FAQs
Making an appointment:
You can make an appointment either in person or by calling our medical centre. We have a computerised appointment system and our receptionist will display all available appointments for you to select a suitable time. In case you require a longer time with your doctor, please inform the receptionist to block extra time for you. However, it may not be possible to book a longer consultation on the day if there is not enough room in the appointment book. Accordingly, you may pre-book your longer appointment one or two days in advance. If you or a family member requires an interpreter service, you may dial TIS on 131450 or we can organise this on behalf of you.
Cancelling or rescheduling an appointment:
You are encouraged to call us 24 hours in advance to cancel or reschedule an appointment. If that is not possible, please make an effort to call at least 3 hours before the appointment time. This gives other patients the chance to access the doctor on the day.
Online appointments:
If you are an existing patient of the practice, you may book an online appointment by clicking the Book Online Now button at the top right hand corner of the Saint Mary Medical Centre home page, and follow the prompts to select an available time and day.
If you are a new patient to the practice, please give us a call on 03 5420 7014 to book your first appointment, and any subsequent bookings may be made online after your first visit.
Cancelling an online appointment:
Either you call the practice and inform the receptionist about your cancellation, or cancel your online appointment from our website www.saintmary.com.au as follows:
1) Select "Book an Appointment";
2) Log in to your account using your Medicare card number and your date of birth;
3) Select "Show My Bookings";
4) Select "Cancel Highlighted Appointment";
5) Select "Yes" and log out.
Scripts, referrals or medical certificates. Do I need to make an appointment?
In short, yes. Patients’ time is valuable. Therefore, requesting scripts, referrals and certificates over the phone will definitely delay other patients. Further, in most cases, the doctor will need to see you before writing out any of the above. Please do book an appointment to see a doctor for any of these requirements.
Length of an appointment:
A standard consultation at our Medical Centre goes for 15 minutes. A long appointment is 30 minutes, while a pro-longed consultation goes up to 45 minutes.
Afterhour arrangements when the medical centre is closed:
Our practice provides 24-hour care for patients on a roster system shared by our doctors. However, if you encounter life-threatening symptoms, please call 000 for an ambulance and seek the nearest emergency department/hospital. Your nearest emergency department is Sunshine hospital, Royal Melbourne Hospital, John Faulkner private Hospital or Epworth Emergency.
For general advice about your health or any non-emergency symptoms you experience during the after-hours period, please call the national service line, Nurse-On-Call, on 1300 60 60 24 for the cost of a local call.
If you are a patient of this practice and would like to talk to our on-call doctor about a non-life-threatening condition, please ring 0491 141 010. The doctor-on-call will advise you one of the following three options:
1) Give you advice over the phone and request you to attend the practice when opened for business the following day.
2) Advise you or one of your family members or friends to dial 000 for an ambulance to attend the nearest emergency department/hospital for a life-threatening situation.
3) Advise you to attend the practice within two hours during the after-hours period.
Please note that if an after-hours practice consultation or a home visit is required, you will incur an out of pocket money of $150 which should be paid following the consultation by cash or credit card authorisation.
Home visits:
Home visits are available during hours to patients who cannot attend the surgery due to their medical condition/immobility. Patients are encouraged to attend the surgery if they can with the assistance of their relatives or carers. If agreed that a home visit will have to be made, the visiting time will be organised on the day according to the availability of doctors. Our doctors regularly visit a number of nursing homes and retirement villages in Gisborne and Sunbury to medically care for patients who live there.
Pathology lab within our medical centre:
Yes, we have the Australian Clinical Lab (ACL) on board. Their timing is as follows:
Mondays to Fridays 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Saturdays and Sundays: Closed
Please note that our doctors do not force our patients to see a particular lab and it is up to our patients to select a pathology provider and inform the doctor.
Pathology test results:
Blood tests, X-rays, Ultrasounds and other results will usually be returned to your doctor within 2 to 3 working days. You will only be contacted by our staff if an appointment is necessary to discuss those results with your doctor. If you do not hear from us, but would like to know your test results, please feel free to call our nurse.
Managing personal health information:
This practice is committed to maintaining the confidentiality of your personal health information. Your medical record is a confidential document. It is the policy of this practice to maintain the security of personal health information at all times and to ensure that this information is only available to authorised members of staff.
Any doctor of your choice can help you with your requirements during a booked consultation because your records are owned by the practice and not by a specific doctor.
No information contained in your medical record is to be released or transferred to a third party, such as another practice or an insurance company unless a request is made in writing by you.
Brochures about your personal information and privacy are available at the reception desk. Please ask one of our staff to give you a copy for your reference. The brochure gives extensive details about the following:
1) Your personal health information,
2) Your medical records,
3) Providing your information to other doctors,
4) Providing your information to other others,
5) Using health information for quality improvement and research,
6) Security of information in the practice, and
7) Your access to your health information.
The reminder and recall system:
Our practice is committed to preventive and holistic health care and follows the best practice guidelines. Saint Mary Medical Centre works in cooperation with National and State-based recall and reminder registers. We may issue you with a reminder notice from time to time offering you preventive health services appropriate to your care. If you do not want to be part of this reminder system please tell the receptionist or your doctor.
The practice started using electronic SMS reminders to patients' mobile phones. If you do not wish to receive SMS reminders, please inform our staff or nurse to remove your name from the SMS reminders.
Talking to the doctor over phone:
During business hours, you may contact your doctor via phone for important matters. If the doctor is free at the time of your call, they will take it. If they are unavailable then the receptionist can take a message for you and forward it on when the doctor is free.
We do advise you call the ambulance on 000 for any life-threatening emergencies instead of ringing the practice.
Longer wait in the waiting room:
Even though we keep a few appointments for acute and emergency cases in order to reduce waiting time for other patients, you may encounter some delays due to an unexpected emergency. We appreciate your patience and encourage you, if you wish, to call the practice before your appointment to check whether your doctor is running on time.
On the other hand, please ensure that you report to the reception desk as soon as you arrive for check-in. This will avoid longer delays in case you are not seen by the receptionist.
Dissatisfaction, Complaints and Suggestions:
Patient satisfaction is one of the most important things to this Practice; it affects health outcomes and we acknowledge that patients' complaints are an important source of feedback. You have a right to complain and we provide many options with which to make any problem you have known to us. We try to understand your specific dissatisfactions and take action to rectify or limit deficiencies. As a patient, you may register your complaints either verbally to staff or doctors, in writing or via the suggestion box available in the waiting room. You may also send us an email.
Complaint forms and suggestion cards are available at the reception desk and also in the waiting room. You may also send your complaints online through this website.