News

WHAT TO DO WHEN THE SURGERY IS CLOSED.

A reminder about our afterhours arrangments. Dr. Pedler is on call, Monday to Friday until 10.00pm. On week-ends, public holidays, or after these hours, the surgery telephones are diverted to our Paging Service which is answered personally by an operator who will take your details and direct you to one of the following:

If you require medical advice for reassurance, you will be given the details of a free advice line called Health Direct. Telephone 1800 022 222. This is a 24 hour a day 7 day a week service run by registered nurses who will refer you to a GP if necessary. Calls from landlines are free although mobile phone charges may apply.

If you prefer a home visit, our locum service will come to your home. Our locum service is an accredited service called GP Connect. You can call the Locum Service direct on 8130 3333 or this can be booked by the Paging Service. We have an arrangement with them to inform us of the details of your visit the following working day, so we can contact you and ensure your afterhours problems have been resolved. This is a bulk-billed service.

Wakefield Hospital Emergency Centre, 300 Wakefield Street, telephone: 8405 3440, offers 24 hour emergency care. Fees apply.

St. Andrews Hospital Emergency Department, 350 South Terrace, ph: 8408 2222 has an emergency service which operates between 8.00 am and 10.00 pm.

Don’t forget, if it is an emergency, dial the Ambulance Service direct on 000. ^Top

ARE YOU ELIGIBLE FOR A FREE NURSE VISIT OR A FREE HEALTH MANAGEMENT PLAN?

We continue to visit our over 75 year old patients in their homes to conduct our Annual Health Assessments. This has been a very successful program in the practice, aimed at preventing illness and accidents, keeping you as healthy as possible and at home for as long as possible. Dr. Pedler strongly encourages you to participate in this free health assessment as it includes questions which he may not always have time to discuss in detail with you and your family.

Our Recall Program specifically targets patients who are at risk of Chronic Disease. If you receive a letter from our Recall Program Co-ordinator offering you the opportunity to participate in a health check, we strongly advise you make an appointment. All chronic disease management conducted by our practice nurse is bulk-billed and free to you.

At this practice, we have always believed in the importance of preventive health care, and today this is being recognised by the government as they introduce reform and incentives to keep you educated in healthy lifestyle choices.

Click below for more patient information on ...

GP Management Plans and Team Care Arrangements

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Staff News

Well Educated Staff, the Key to Good Service

We believe the key to good service is staff who are well trained and committed to ongoing education. "The one thing that is constant is change" and this is particularly true of General Practice, so all our staff, not just the doctors, make an effort to keep well informed!

Lyn, who is a Fellow of the Australian Association of Practice Managers, recently attended a conference in Melbourne, where she received an award in recognition of 26 years membership.

One of the conference topics Lyn believes will be of most interest to our patients is the big leap forward in Electronic Health. The government is issuing every patient, health worker and healthcare organisation with a Unique Identification Number, in preparation for the secure exchange of health information over the internet. Our practice is already set up to send and receive encrypted electronic data but at the moment there are limitations on who can receive the information. This new initiative, however, will open up access and aims to put you in control of your personal health care record. Using your new ID number you will be able to access your health record from anywhere in the country, and other health professionals, using their ID numbers and electronic keys will be able to share and contribute to your health record. This is a revolution in Australian healthcare, focusing on the communication and storage of your health information - ultimately an electronic health record for everyone!

Debbie and Eve have updated their first aid skills and attained a Senior First Aid Certification. They have also attended a course in Emergency Medicine, which we hope they don't have to implement too often at the reception desk!

The whole team continue to be involved in a general practice education program - a "collaborative" with other practices where we exchange ideas, learn about new and innovative systems and share experiences to improve health outcomes for our patients.

You may also be interested to know that in late December 2010 we were again successfully examined against new standards to maintain our practice accreditation status. To renew accreditation our practice team spends considerable time working together to ensure the quality and standards of our service are recognised at national assessment levels. Read more about the accreditation process in the latest edition of our practice newsletter, below.

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Every three months we present a newsletter to keep you informed of what's happening in the practice. To compliment the practice news and updates, we ask each of our doctors to submit an article of information they think might be of interest to you. This can include details on illness currently prevalent in the community, summaries of recent educational meetings they have attended, or topics relevant to their areas of special interest.

Click here to view our current newsletter: February - May 2012

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