All patient information is private, and confidentiality of patient information is always maintained. The rights of every patient are to be respected. All information collected by this practice in providing a health service is deemed to be private and confidential.

This practice complies with Federal and State privacy regulations including the Privacy Act 1998, the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000 and Victorian Health Records Act 2001 as well as the standards set out in the RACGP Handbook for the Management of Health Information in Private Medical Practice 1st Edition (2002). (Refer Section 6 Privacy and Security of Health Information).

Under no circumstances are employees of this practice to discuss or in any way reveal patient conditions or documentation to unauthorised staff, colleagues, other patients, family, or friends, whether at the practice or outside it, such as in the home or at social occasions. This includes patient’s accounts, referral letters or other clinical documentation.

General Practitioners and employees are aware of confidentiality requirements for all patient encounters and recognise that significant breaches of confidentiality may provide grounds for disciplinary action or dismissal.

Every employee of this practice is aware of the privacy policy and has signed a privacy statement as part of their terms and conditions of employment. This privacy statement continues to be binding on employees even after their employment has terminated.

All employees working at this practice are issued with the privacy policy and sign a privacy statement as part of their terms and conditions of employment.

All doctors commencing consultation at this practice sign a privacy agreement on commencement.

The policies and procedures of the practice are further explained during the induction of new doctors and staff members, and the induction form is signed by the new employee as confirmation that they understand and accept their obligations in relation to patient privacy and the confidentiality of medical information.

RACGP 5th edition Standards 4.2.1.

We are a private billing practice and fees are payable at the time of consultation. We accept cash, cheque, EFTPOS, MasterCard and Visa.

GP’s at the practice bulk bill children 12 and under and Veterans Affairs patients. All other fees including those for pensioners and Health Care card holders are charged at the discretion of the doctors.

Whilst we understand there are sometimes extenuating circumstances, where possible please ensure you give us at least 2 hours notice if you need to cancel your appointment.
This enables other patients to attend for an appointment.

Failure to attend your appointment or to give adequate notification of cancellation may incur a fee. This fee is charged at the discretion of the doctor.

Patients can request a script over the phone if you have seen your GP in the last 3 months. This will be written at the discretion of your doctor. A fee may be charged.

Generally if you need a follow up appointment for results you will receive an SMS or a recall letter if it is a non urgent result. Our nurses will contact you if it is an urgent recall.

Please note that it is illegal for doctors to back date a referral. You need to ensure you referral is up to date before you see your specialist or you will not be eligible for a rebate from Medicare.
For further information please see our brochure or ask one of our friendly staff.

Staff are mindful that even if patients have provided electronic contact details they may not be proficient in communicating via such means and patient choice should be obtained before electronic communication is chosen.

Patients are able to obtain advice or information related to their care or appointment reminders by electronic means, where the doctor determines that a face-to-face consultation is unnecessary. Electronic communication includes: email, fax, and SMS.

Practice staff and doctors determine how they communicate electronically with patients, both receiving and sending messages. All significant electronic contact with patients is recorded in the patient health records.

Patients are informed of any costs incurred prior to electronic consultations.

Practice staff and doctors should be aware of alternative modes of communication used by the disabled.

Patients are advised in the Practice Information sheet that they can request our written policy on receiving and returning electronic communication.

Communication with patients via electronic means (e.g. email and Fax) is conducted with appropriate regard to the privacy Laws relating to health information and confidentiality of the patients health information. (Refer section 6 of full written policy)

Staff and Patients using email/SMS or other forms of electronic messaging should be aware that it is not possible to guarantee that electronic communications will be private. All personal health information or sensitive information sent by email must be securely encrypted. (Refer to section 6 of full written policy).

When an email message is sent or received in the course of a person's duties, that message is a business communication and therefore constitutes an official record.

Internal or external parties, including patients may send electronic messages. Messages from patients or those of clinical significance require a response to confirm receipt and should be documented in the patient medial record if appropriate.

Employees should be aware that electronic communications could, depending on the technology, be forwarded, intercepted, printed and stored by others. Electronic mail is the equivalent of a post card.

Staff members have full accountability for emails sent in their name or held in their mailbox, and are expected to utilise this communication tool in an acceptable manner.

This includes (but is not limited to):

• limiting the exchange of personal emails
• refraining from responding to unsolicited or unwanted emails
• deleting hoaxes or chain emails
• not opening email attachments from unknown senders
• virus checking all email attachments
• maintaining appropriate language within e-communications
• ensuring any personal opinions are clearly indicated as such
• confidential information (e.g. patient information) must be encrypted.

The Practice reserves the right to check any Practice email as a precaution to fraud, viruses, workplace harassment or breaches of confidence by employees. Inappropriate use of the Email facility will be fully investigated and may be grounds for dismissal.

The practice uses an email disclaimer notice on outgoing emails that are affiliated with the practice which reads “Please note if you have received this email in error please notify the practice immediately and delete the email. It is against the privacy act to disclose any information to another party”.

Our website, like many others, stores and retrieves information on your browser using cookies. This page explains what cookies are and how we use them on our website.

We do not participate in the disclosure or resale of customer data. No invasive tracking or targeted advertising happens on this website. We only engage in the collection of data essential to facilitate in providing products or services to you, in a safe and efficient manner.

If you are asked to provide information when using this website, it will only be used in the ways described in this privacy policy.

This policy is updated from time to time, the latest version is published on this page.

This website privacy policy was updated on: 1 November 2024

If you have any questions about this policy, please contact us.

We gather and use certain information about individuals in order to provide products and services and to enable certain functions on this website.

We also collect information to better understand how visitors use this website and to present timely, relevant information to them.

When you first visit our website, browsing and remaining on our website will imply that you agree to our use of cookies as explained in this Privacy and Cookie Policy.

You can decide to withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies on your computer (or mobile device) using the settings and configuration of your Internet browser.

We may collect the following information:

• Name
• Contact information including email address
• Demographic information, such as postcode, preferences and interests
• Website usage data
• Other information relevant to customer enquiries
• Other information pertaining to special offers and surveys

How we use this data

Collecting this data helps us understand what you are looking for from our business, enabling us to deliver improved products and services.

Specifically, we may use data:

• For our own internal records.
• To improve the products and services we provide.
• To contact you in response to a specific enquiry.
• To customise the website for you.
• To send you promotional emails about products, services, offers and other things that may be relevant to you.
• To contact you via email, telephone or mail.

What is a cookie?

A cookie is a small piece of data that our website asks your browser to store on your computer or mobile device.

Cookies do not provide us with access to your computer or any information about you, other than that which you choose to share with us.

Generally, it contains certain information that is not personally identifiable to you, but is used to improve and personalise your web experience.

For example, a cookie can include the date and time of visits to the website, the pages viewed and the time spent on the website.

How we use cookies

We may use cookies to:

• Analyse our web traffic using an analytics package. Aggregated usage data helps us improve the website structure, design, content and functions.
• To check if are you are signed in to our website and if you have used our site before.
• Record information about your preferences regarding our website.
• If you return to our website, we may show your relevant content or provide functionality you used previously.

We work to protect the security of your information during transmission by using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL/TLS) protocols, which encrypts any information you input.

Our cookies help us to:

• Make our website work securely, as you'd expect.
• Improve the speed/security of the site.
• Continuously improve our website for you.
• Make our marketing more efficient (ultimately helping us to offer the service we do).

We do NOT use cookies to:

• Collect any personally identifiable information (without your express permission).
• Collect any sensitive information (without your express permission).
• Pass data to advertising networks.
• Pass personally identifiable data to third parties.

Controlling cookies

You can use your web browser’s cookie settings to determine how our website uses cookies. If you do not want our website to store cookies on your computer or device, you should set your web browser to refuse cookies.

However, please note that doing this may affect how our website functions. Some pages and services may become unavailable to you.

Unless you have changed your browser to refuse cookies, our website will issue cookies when you visit it.

Why does the message explaining cookies keep appearing?

If you close the banner and it reappears the next time you visit us, you most likely have cookies disabled. We use a persistent cookie to remember that you closed the banner, but this only works when cookies on our site are enabled.

Controlling information about you

When you fill in a form or provide your details on our website, you may see one or more tick boxes allowing you to:

• Opt-in to receive communications from us by email, telephone, text message or post.

If you have agreed that we can use your information for contact purposes, you can change your mind easily by contacting us.

We will never lease, distribute or sell your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or the law requires us to.

Any personal information we hold about you is stored and processed under our data protection policy, in line with the Data Protection Act 1998 and the EU GDPR 2018 legislation.

You can learn more about cookies here.

How do we protect your information?

Our website is scanned on a regular basis for security holes and known vulnerabilities in order to make your visit to our site as safe as possible.

All sensitive/credit information you supply is encrypted via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology.

To maintain the safety of your personal information we use and implement a variety of security measures when a user submits information or accesses information.

All transactions are processed through a gateway provider and are not stored or processed on our servers.
We will always hold your information securely.

To prevent unauthorised disclosure or access to your information, we have implemented strong physical and electronic security safeguards.

Links from our site

Our website may contain links to other websites.

Please note that we have no control of other websites outside our domain. If you provide information to a website to which we link, we are not responsible for its protection and privacy, please read any other website’s data protection and privacy policies.