Download Practice Information Brochure Here
Services Available
We have an extensive range of services available including General Medicine, home visits, check ups, family planning, pregnancy tests, heart checks (ECG), counselling, childhood vaccinations, travel medicine, minor surgery – stitching cuts, removal of moles and sunspots, liquid nitrogen freezing therapy for sunspots and warts, nutritional advice, sports medicine, skin checks, pre employment medicals, onsite vaccinations, weight management, chronic disease management, mental health counselling, diabetes care.
Newer services available include Family Planning, vasectomies and Iron Infusions.
Detailed information about our services can be found in the services tab on this website.
Online Appointments
Appointments can be made online 24 hours a day via our website www.pivotalhealth.com.au or via the HotDoc App (which can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play). Please note that childhood immunisations cannot be booked online as we need to ensure that nursing time is allocated. Should you be having difficulties with making an appointment online; please contact our reception team or the Practice Manager.
Appointments
We have a booking system which aims to minimise waiting times. We need your help to ensure its success. To avoid delaying other patients we ask that you request longer consultations for procedures, women’s checks or if you have multiple issues you wish to discuss with the doctor. If you are unsure if you need a longer appointment please ask our friendly reception staff.
Walk-in emergencies patients are always given priority and our staff will attempt to contact you or inform you on your arrival if there is an unforeseen delay or if your GP has been called away.
We are open Saturday mornings and the GPs in the practice work this session on a rotational roster. Our Saturday session is run by only one GP and is usually in high demand. We primarily keep these appointments for patients of the practice who have an acute illness or injury or require urgent follow up rather than routine and/or long appointments. GPs are available during the week to see their patients or routine and long appointments. We are unable to see new patients or childhood immunisations on Saturday mornings.
From time to time our doctors may run late, being late can be stressful for patients and staff. One reason we may run late is that our consultations run over time, we kindly ask that when booking your appointments you inform our reception staff if you require a longer appointment.
Did you know? Just four minutes extra per consultation can cause the doctor to run 1 hour late at the end of a session.
Telehealth Consultations
In 2020 in General Practice we saw the introduction of telephone and video consultations in response to the global COVID pandemic. Medicare offers rebates to patients who have been seen in the practice face to face in the last 12 months.
Telehealth appointments at Pivotal Health are usually 10 minutes long, consultation fees apply for other patients and a Medicare rebate can be processed by or reception team (if eligible).
Consultation fees for telehealth can be found in the fees section.
Continuity of Care
This practice encourages patients to have continuity of care by seeing their regular treating GP for visits where possible. Reception staff may ask who your regular GP is at the time of making an appointment (we do endeavour to make your appointment with your regular practitioner) however there may be times where this is not possible. For your convenience, should your doctor be unavailable at the requested time, reception staff may offer you an appointment with an alternative GP or an alternative time with your regular GP.
Accidents and Emergencies
We understand that accidents and emergencies can occur at any time. We ask that you telephone the surgery and speak to one of our practice nurses first and you will be advised of the appropriate action.
Home Visits
Doctors at Pivotal Health do home visits when appropriate and are limited to a 5 kilometre radius of the clinic. This includes some areas in Cleveland, Thornlands and Ormiston. Home Visits are restricted to patients who are too frail or ill to attend the clinic. We do not do home visits on patients who have not been seen at the clinic. Home Visits are not bulk billed and private fees apply. Usually some of this fee is claimable from Medicare.
Care Outside Normal Opening Hours
Should you require urgent medical attention outside normal clinic hours our nominated after hours services Hello Home Doctor Service can be contacted on 134 100 or National Home Doctor or 13 74 25. Visits are usually bulk billed but this is at the discretion of the service. Should you require further information please ask one of our reception staff. Should your after-hours medical issue be an emergency please call the ambulance service by phoning 000.
The closest emergency department is Redlands Hospital, Weippin Street, Cleveland. Phone 07 3488 3111
Telephone Access
During consulting hours doctors in the practice may be contacted via reception where a message is taken and emailed to the. Your call will always be put through to a doctor or one of our practice nurses in an emergency. Alternatively, a telehealth appointment can be made via reception.
Email Access
Emails can be sent to the GP via reception@pivotalhealth.com.au and should not be used for urgent matters or to make appointments.
SMS
Where possible we use mobile text message systems for the following reasons:
- to remind out patients of health reminders
- confirmation of appointments
- non-urgent result recalls and,
- from time to time out GP’s may end a text message to a patient’s mobile phone via out medical software
It is important to note:
- This is not the GP’s personal phone number
- The text is sent via our medical software (computers) and not a mobile
- You should not reply to this message as it has a “do not reply” feature
- The “do not reply” feature DOES NOT apply to the appointment reminders we send
- We appreciate it when you confirm you appointments via the text message you receive
Medical Certificates
These will not be issued for non-medical reasons apart from bereavement or family support. The patient must be seen at the time of illness to write a certificate. Please note that medical certificates cannot be back dated.
Repeat Prescriptions
Medications are normally prescribed at consultations however there may be times where repeat prescriptions are required.
Script clinics are for patients requiring repeat prescriptions only for medication that they take regularly. To attend script clinics, the patients must have attended the practice for a normal appointment in the last 6 months and the prescription cannot be for strong pain killers, sleeping tablets or antidepressant drugs. There is no out of pocket expense for patients who attend the script clinics. Script clinics run twice a week, bookings are essential. Please ask our reception staff for more information about this service and for times.
For patients who are unable to attend a script clinic due to an illness or injury, phone requests for repeats may be available but are at the prescribing doctor’s discretion. Please note that our doctors are very busy and require 2 working days for repeat prescriptions. Should you require an urgent script, please discuss this with our reception staff. There is a fee of $20-$30 for prescriptions ordered over the phone. Please note that this fee is subject to change.
Repeat prescriptions can also be completed via a telehealth appointment. Antidepressant medications, sleeping tablets and pain medications must be booked with your usual GP.
This policy now also applies to patients who require repeat prescriptions for Webster packs.
Referrals
Referrals to a specialist are a matter for discussion with the doctor during consultation.
Repeat /ongoing referrals need to be done at an appointment. The doctors at this practice encourage patients to attend the practice for these issues.
For patients who are unable to attend the clinic telehealth appointments or phone requests for ongoing referrals may be available but are at the referring doctor’s discretion. Please note that our doctors are very busy and require 2 working days for referrals. Should you require an urgent referral, please discuss this with our reception staff. There is a fee of $20-$30 for referrals ordered over the phone. Please note that this fee is subject to change.
Please be aware that your GP may disclose personal health information in your referral.
Fees and Billing Arrangements
Fees are based on the length of consultations, with additional costs for specific tests, procedures and treatments. Fees are displayed in the reception areas and in our practice brochure; alternatively please ask our friendly reception staff. A current list of our consultation fees can be found here.
Fees are payable at the time of consultation, we accept cash, EFTPOS, Mastercard and VISA.
We no do not accept gap payments for consultations. Should there be any problems paying on the day of consultation, please speak with our reception staff, practice manager or with your doctor.
Confirming appointments
It is the policy of the practice that we confirm appointments the day before your scheduled visit. Our preferred method is via text message; you can follow the prompts in the text to confirm or cancel your appointment. If we do not have your mobile phone number or you do not consent to SMS reminders our reception staff may contact you via telephone to confirm your booking.
Missed or Cancelled Appointments
We request that a minimum of 2 hours’ notice is given to our reception staff should you be unable to keep an appointment. There may be a fee payable for patients who do not attend appointments without cancelling them. We understand that sometimes there are extreme circumstances where you may not be able to attend or cancel your appointment. Please discuss this with reception staff or our Front Office Manager if this occurs.
Smoking Policy
This practice has a no smoking policy. As per the new QLD tobacco laws there is to be no smoking inside this practice nor within 4 metres of the practice’s front door.
Reminder System
Our practice is committed to preventative care. We will seek your permission to be included on our reminder system. We may SMS or post you a reminder notice from time to time offering you preventative health services appropriate to your care or reminding you that a health related issue is due to be reviewed. Please note that it is our duty of care to remind you of health related reminders such as pap smears and skin checks. If you do not wish to be a part of this system please discuss this with your doctor.
Disability Access
Wheelchair access is available via the front entrance of the clinic. We have bathroom facilities within the clinic that have wheelchair access. Disabled parking is available within the Coles car park and a 2 minute drop off and pick up area has been created outside the clinic on Shore Street for your convenience. Our practice has a number of height adjustable beds for patients who require access to one.
Translating and Interpreting Services
This practice accommodates the needs of patients who may require assistance if they are unable to speak English or if they are hearing impaired. We are able to arrange interpreting services to patients for free. Please ask our reception staff if you require an interpreter to be organised.
Updating records
We request that if any of your contact details have changed (including emergency contacts) that you advise our staff immediately so that your health record can be changed. We may ask you to review your details every 6 months when you are in the practice. By doing this as we have found that our rate of being unable to contact patients has dropped dramatically.
Patient Test Results
Your doctor will advise you when they expect the results of tests or procedures to arrive at the practice. We request that you contact the practice to find out if your results are back and what they mean for your care.
We attempt to contact patients via telephone, SMS or post should your doctor specifically request to see you for follow up. Please note that our reception staff cannot give results over the phone or in person. Our practice nurses Sue or Maria may be able to assist with your enquiry.
