We encourage you to make an appointment with your preferred doctor by telephoning the surgery. Urgent medical problems will be dealt with promptly.
Every effort will be made to provide you with your preferred time and doctor, however due to seasonal demand or doctor absence, we may not be able to accommodate your specific request. Our staff will endeavour to provide you with alternate options.

Appointments are usually made at fifteen minute intervals. This may change if there has been an emergency, or if the surgery is very busy.

Emergencies will be given priority and our staff will attempt to contact you if there is a delay.

Please give thought to the amount of time your appointment may require and if there are complex issues or multiple problems you wish to discuss, please let our staff know when you book so that they can allocate the appropriate amount of time for your visit. Longer appointments are often required for medicals, counselling, cervical screening tests, procedures, new patients, multiple or complex issues.

If you wish, you can phone the surgery before your appointment to check whether the doctor is running on time.

Telephone Consultations
Providing you have been seen by one of our GPs in the past twelve months, you may be eligible to have your consultation over the phone rather that face to face. We strongly recommend having a telephone consultation if you have a contagious illness, to avoid spreading the illness to others in the waiting room. During your telephone consult, your GP may organise a time for you to be reviewed face to face, if required.

Telephone consultations are scheduled in 15-minute increments. While we strive to accommodate your preferred time, availability may vary. We appreciate your understanding of the scheduling process.

New Patients
We welcome new patients (from within our catchment area) at the Crystal Brook Medical Practice & Laura District Medical Practice. New patients typically require a 30 minute appointment with one of our Practice Nurses, along with a 30 minute appointment with a Doctor. This allows enough time for the nurses and Doctor to collect important medical information and history from you. We ask that new patients pay their first attendance in full on the day.

Cancelled Appointments or Non Attendance
Please notify our friendly receptionists – at least 3 hours prior to your scheduled appintment – if you are unable to attend. Non attendance of booked appointments may incur a fee of $30 (non-Medicare rebatable).

Our practice is a private billing clinic. Consultation fees must be paid in full at the time of consultation via cash, EFTPOS, or credit card. Medicare rebates can usually be processed on the spot and deposited directly into your savings or cheque account.

We offer bulk billing for patients who hold a valid Pensioner Concession Card, Health Care Card, or DVA Gold Card. A valid card must be presented at the time of your appointment to be eligible for bulk billing.

Fees vary depending on the type and length of your appointment.

If you are experiencing financial difficulty, please speak with our reception team before your appointment, either by phone or in person.

Please note that some services may incur additional fees. This can include items such as acupuncture, wound care products, consumables, medical reports, transfer of medical records, and other administrative requests. 

For medical emergencies, please call 000.

We look after our patients at all times of the day and night. When the surgery is closed, you should contact either the Crystal Brook or Laura Hospitals, and when appropriate, nursing staff will arrange with the on-call doctor.

Southern Flinders Health – Crystal Brook Campus – 08 8636 1100
Southern Flinders Health – Laura Campus – 08 8663 3100

If you’re too unwell to attend the clinic or hospital outpatients, and you live in the Crystal Brook or Laura area, a home visit may be available at your doctor’s discretion for existing patients of our practice.

Home visits can also be arranged for palliative care patients, patients living in local residential aged care facilities, and patients requiring care within the hospital.

Prescriptions

Most prescriptions are provided with enough medication to last until your next review with your doctor. In most cases, prescriptions are not routinely issued without an appointment, as your doctor needs to ensure your medication remains appropriate and safe for your current health needs.

To avoid running out of medication, we encourage patients to book review appointments ahead of time.

Medical Certificates

A consultation with a doctor is required for a medical certificate to be issued. Unfortunately, medical certificates cannot be backdated.

If you are unable to get an appointment with a doctor, some pharmacies may be able to provide absence from work certificates for a fee.

Our practice is committed to supporting your ongoing health and wellbeing through preventative care, health promotion, and chronic disease management. We use evidence-based guidelines and patient needs to help ensure important health checks and follow-up care are not missed.

Our computerised recall and reminder system may be used for services such as cervical screening, immunisations, diabetes reviews, care plans, and other preventative health reminders.

If you do not wish to participate in our recall and reminder system, or if you would prefer your information not be included in de-identified research or quality improvement activities, please let your doctor or our reception team know.

We also offer SMS appointment reminders to help keep life a little less chaotic. If you would like to receive SMS reminders, please speak with our reception team.

Patients are advised that it is their responsibility to follow up any investigations undertaken. Results of routine tests are normally available within two working days. Some tests such as cervical screening tests or specialised blood tests may take 1-2 weeks.

For any abnormal results, we will notify you by your preferred method of contact. Alternatively, you can telephone us to obtain your results. We would prefer you to contact us between 1:00pm and 2:00pm.

Results can only be given to the patient whose name appears on the test – unless they are a minor. For patient privacy, our staff will need to check the identity of the caller by confirming certain details.

Our administrative staff are not medically trained to interpret results, but are happy to provide you with the Doctor’s notations. If you require further information or you have a query regarding the information you are provided with, we encourage you to schedule an appointment to discuss with your Doctor.

Medicare legislation requires that a patient has a valid referral to see a specialist to receive their Medicare rebate entitlement. A referral from your GP is valid for only 12 months from the date of issue. If you have yearly specialist appointments, then a new referral is required for each appointment.

It is illegal for a GP to back date a referral.

You may still be able to visit your specialist without a referral, however a Medicare rebate will not be paid towards the cost of the visit and you will be required to pay the full fee (no gap).

Your patient health information is disclosed in the referral document. If you feel uncomfortable with this, please speak to your doctor.

It is the responsibility of the patient to ensure their referral is current prior to specialist appointments.

Our doctors and clinical staff may return phone calls between patients, during breaks, or at the end of the day, depending on availability and clinical priorities. If your matter is urgent, please let our reception team know when you call.

To protect patient privacy and confidentiality, communication via electronic methods such as email is generally not encouraged for clinical matters.

Our practice also uses Facebook to share practice news, upcoming events, health alerts, and general updates. Please do not send appointment requests, medical queries, or requests for results via Facebook Messenger or to individual staff social media profiles.

For all appointment and clinical enquiries, please contact the practice directly by telephone.

Held Tuesday mornings in the Community Services Building at the Crystal Brook Hospital. Appointments are made via the surgery for this clinic. Six week check-ups for mother and baby are booked during normal clinic hours – please contact reception to check availability.

It is the policy of the practice to NOT prescribe Opiates on your first visit to the practice.

Our practice is proud to support the training of future rural healthcare professionals and regularly hosts Intern Doctors, GP Registrars, and Medical Students.

Where possible, our reception team will advise you if a student or trainee may be present during your consultation – when booking your appointment, on arrival at reception, and again before entering the consulting room.

Your comfort and privacy are important to us. If you would prefer not to have a third party present during your consultation, please let our staff know.

From time to time, the practice may also participate in clinical audits and quality improvement activities using de-identified patient information. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please speak with a member of our team.

Infant Care

Baby change facilities are available in the patient toilets at our practice.

Accessibility

Disabled parking spaces and accessible entry points are located at the front of both practices. If you require assistance, including wheelchair support, please let our reception team know when booking your appointment or on arrival.

Interpreter Services

If you or a family member require an interpreter, please advise our reception team when booking your appointment so arrangements can be made ahead of time.

Smoking Policy

All practice and hospital locations are smoke-free sites. Smoking & vaping is not permitted anywhere on the grounds.

Infection Control

Patient safety and hygiene are extremely important to us. Our practice uses single-use medical instruments where appropriate. These items are used once only and safely disposed of after the procedure to help maintain high infection control standards and reduce the risk of cross-contamination.

We value your input to our practice. If you think there are ways that we can better provide our services to you, please feel free to make a suggestion. If these suggestions are acted upon, we will post them on the ‘Notice Board’ in the waiting room so that all patients are informed.

From time to time, this practice invites patients to complete a questionnaire on their views of the practice and how it could be improved. These surveys are completely confidential and help us to improve our services.

If you are unhappy with any aspect of the care you receive from this practice, we are keen to know about it. Please feel free to talk to your doctor or the receptionist about any issues you have with the service we provide. You may prefer to email us or use our suggestion box in the waiting room. We take your concerns seriously.

We believe that problems are best dealt with in the practice. Indeed, we want to know if you are concerned about any aspect of our service. However, if you do feel there is a problem you wish to take further, then the Health and Community Services Complaints Commissioner on 1800 232 007 would be able to help. Alternatively, members of the public may make a notification to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) about the conduct, health or performance of a practitioner or that of a student. If your complaint is about privacy, then the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) would be able to help.