Practice Information

Known Diseases

If you or child has a rash or has been in contact with a known disease (chicken pox, school sores, measles etc) please ring reception from outside the practice.

Respiratory Symptoms

Any patients who are unwell with respiratory symptoms (adults or children) must book a Telehealth appointment in the first instance, or phone the practice from outside to advise you have arrived for an appointment.

A nurse or doctor will do a quick assessment before you come inside. After this assessment you may be asked to wear a mask inside the surgery and during your consultation.  

If it is assessed the situation is too contagious to come inside your consultation may need to occur outside in a more private area.

Why we have infection control measures in place

These measures help to limit the chance of spreading viruses or diseases to other patients attending our practices who are sick, have low immunity or unimmunised.

As well as protecting other patients we also have a duty to provide our team with a safe workplace and this helps to reduce the chances of our team getting sick.

We thank you for your understanding.

The Providers in our rooms may provide house calls for patients of RTMC when necessary on request.

However it is usually better if patients are able to attend the practice as it’s better equipped for examination and treatment.

Normal practice hours are Monday to Friday 7.30 – 5.30pm and Saturday 8am to 1.30pm.  Consultations outside of these hours or on a public holiday may attract a higher fee (and in most cases a higher rebate for you). 

All Veterans with a Gold Card or White Card will be asked to sign a voucher and will be billed directly to DVA.  All Workers’ Compensation injuries and medicals are billed independently of Medicare.
 Care Plans, Health Assessments, Childhood vaccinations, flu vaccinations and repeat dressing will be direct billed to Medicare.

If your situation is urgent or an emergency please call 000 or attend your closest hospital, otherwise after-hours medical care is available for patients of our Practice.

You can ring 5578 9000 or call the answering service directly on 5595 6090 to contact Dr Bartlett, Dr Geissler or Dr Hutchison.

There is a call out fee of $180 with a rebate available. If it is not urgent and you can wait until the following day, please book online via our website.

Our practice prefers phone communication. Email communication is not ideal as we cannot identify you and the method is not secure.

If we do agree to email you information it will be password protected and you will need to ring to obtain the password. There may be a charge for work done without an appointment.

The Providers who consult from our rooms request to have allocated time to perform their work so please book an appointment, don’t email your request.

Messages are passed to the Providers and responses occur as quickly as they are able. Not every Doctor works every day and you may be asked to book an appointment.

Our practice has a code which outlines the expected standard of behaviour for all patients. By attending our practice you are agreeing to uphold this standard.

In summary we cannot condone:

• Swearing or abuse toward staff
• Questioning or refusal to follow our practice policies (which are in place for patient and practice safety)
• Private patients leaving without paying
• Attending the practice if affected by alcohol or drugs
• Attending for the purpose of obtaining drugs of addiction
• Intimidation or bullying behaviour toward the providers in our rooms or our staff.

Further information can be viewed near Reception. Thank you for you understanding.

All of the Providers practicing from the rooms at our practice use computerised Medical Records to record information, order tests, provide prescriptions and file Specialists reports.

Your medical record is a confidential document. It is the policy of this practice to maintain security of personal health information at all times and to ensure that this information is only available to authorised members of our team in addition to your Provider. 

We follow Australian Federal Privacy Laws and Standards for the private health sector. A single A4 health summary sheet will be available for free. Further information will incur a charge. We have a Privacy Policy brochure and a written Practice Privacy Policy.

Privacy and Information Collection Policy

We cater for people with special needs and disabilities. Please advise our friendly team who will be very willing to assist with any requirements.

We use an interpreter service when necessary. 

This helps the Providers who work in our rooms ensure they fully understand the nature of patients’ problems, and to ensure patients understand the outcome of their consultation. 

Further information about the Translating and Interpreter Service (TIS) can be found here: https://www.tisnational.gov.au/. 

If you are hearing-impaired the TIS can contact us and verbalise what you are typing to them. 

Pre-booking is preferred for hearing barriers as an interpreter is needed on-site but language barriers can often be helped there and then if your Provider rings the TIS service.  

Some languages may need a prebooked interpreter so best to contact the website above to check prior to the appointment.

If you require a copy of your medical records to be sent to another practice, we send a summary for free, although we may charge up to $50 for preparing complete records.