Please find below our practice information.
Booking Appointments
EFP is happy to offer numerous ways to book your appointment. If you are time-poor and like to do things after hours we offer HOTDOC booking via your app or through this link.
For those who like a personal approach our reception team are also very happy to speak with you, give them a call on 4953 0966
Cancelling your appointment
We appreciate 24hrs notice for all cancellations but understand sometimes this is not possible so we ask you cancel no later than 2 hours prior to your appointment. If you do not cancel within this timeframe, we reserve the right to charge a private fee that does not attract a Medicare rebate.
Respiratory guidelines (COVID-19, Influenza A&B, Rhinovirus etc) for EFP
To continue to protect our staff and your GP’s so they are all here to care for you, we continue to screen patients for viral symptoms. We expect nothing less than full disclosure from our patients when answering the screening questions. Viral symptoms may include, but are not limited to:
Cough, Sore throat, Runny nose, Temperature, Vomiting, Diarrhoea
Though we have dropped the severe restrictions placed on us and in turn you, through the height of the pandemic, we still expect a common sense approach for people attending our practice.
Currently, there is no mandatory requirement to wear a mask while sitting in our waiting room, however, those with symptoms will still be required to follow our infection control policies.
We will continue to offer appointments to patients suffering any of the above symptoms, we will just do it in a way that protects those you come into contact with while in our practice.
If you do have a viral illness and still intend to go out in public below are some things you can do to protect others:
- Wear a mask: Particularly when in large crowds or indoor spaces away from home
- Keep your distance: It is highly important to implement this whenever in public places
- Wash your hands: Handwashing with soap removes germs. This helps prevent infections as people frequently touch their eyes, nose, and mouth without even realising it and this is where germs can enter our body.
- Cover your cough and sneeze appropriately
Websites of interest:
https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19
https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2020/03/coronavirus-covid-19-information-on-social-distancing.pdf
https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/when-how-handwashing.html
New Patients
EFP welcomes new patients.
We practice holistic based health care and our focus is always treating patients with empathy, respect and offering the highest quality care to you and your family.
To book a new patient appointment at EFP we require a deposit to be left at the time of booking. Please note this is a non-refundable deposit.
We need to get some basic information from you before your first appointment. This is done by having new patients fill in some forms and there are a couple of ways this can be done:
- By presenting 30 minutes prior to your appointment
- We can email the blank forms to you to fill in and bring along to your appointment
- You can download them below by clicking on the link New patient forms printing them, and bringing them with you
- You can call into our practice prior to your appointment, take them home, and bring them back for your appointment
At your initial consultation, you will see one of our Practice Nurses first. They will complete the initial registration and ask for any other medical information that will assist the GP to have a more thorough understanding of your health so far. Your GP consultation will then follow.
At the end of your consultation, the GP may ask to access a copy of your medical history from your previous GP. This transfer of medical files is common when changing care to another practice and is essential for keeping your medical history together. Our reception staff will assist you in this process.
Communication Policy
Telephone is the main instrument we use for communication. This communication tool is one of our primary methods of contact with which to receive information and disclose information to patients and third-party services. We pride ourselves on our telephone manner, politeness and caring attitude and expect no less from those phoning in.
To be respectful of a patient’s time with their GP, calls are not put through while a consultation is in progress. Reception may ask some pertinent questions to ascertain the urgency of the call and dependent on the outcome will determine who best to refer the call to. For all non-urgent communication the message will be marked to the attention of the relevant clinician and we will strive to have a response within 48 hours.
All new patients are issued with our communication policy and it is included in our waiting room slideshow. Each time you present to our practice your details will be checked. This is not to inconvenience you but to confirm the details held on our database. We also expect patients to share the responsibility when it comes to keeping the practice informed of any changes to their details.
If you originally chose not to be contacted via email or sms but change your mind, you will need to complete a new “consent to email or sms” form before we will communicate with you via the chosen platform.
Our practice is mindful that even if patients have provided electronic contact details, they may not be proficient in communicating via electronic means and patient consent needs to be obtained before engaging in electronic communication. Electronic communication includes email, facsimile and Short Message Service (SMS).
We offer interpreter services for those patients whose first language is not English. We extract this data from our initial information collection and a note is entered on patient’s file. Reception will initiate the interpreter booking for the patient’s appointment, however dependent on the time of the booking, this may not always be an option.
Communication with patients via electronic means is conducted with appropriate regard to the privacy policy 1988.
Repeat Prescriptions
Our Doctors offer a prescription service with 2 very strict provisions*:
1. The requested medication must be have been previously prescribed
2. You must have had an appointment with one of our GP’s within the last 3 months.
This request may incur a private fee, please discuss with reception.
* If both of these provisions are not met you will require an appointment.
Repeat referrals
You may request a repeat referral without seeing your GP if
1. You have been seen by a GP in this practice in the last 3 months &
2. It is for an ongoing medical concern to the same Specialist (New concerns require a face to face appointment)
* If both of these provisions are not met you will require an appointment
This request may incur a private fee, please discuss with reception.
Obtaining results
To obtain results, you must make a follow-up appointment with your GP. Please note this is not a bulk billed appointment.
A time frame will be given to you for the return of your results to us; you may either make the follow-up appointment on the day of your consultation or call the practice at a later date.
In some instances, a Practice Nurse may be able to answer a question regarding these results, however, this will not be a full consultation and they may direct you to follow up with your GP.
Patient Confidentiality
This is a critical part of our responsibility in your healthcare. We have an established privacy policy and are bound by the provisions of the Privacy Act 1988, relating to your healthcare. As such, we have appropriate measures in place for the safe destruction of your personal health information. A copy of our full policy can be obtained from reception or by clicking HERE.
Appointment Delays
Our GP’s do their best to keep to the appointment schedule, however, sometimes circumstances out of their control may cause a delay and this means your consultation may be later than you booked. We do our very best to keep patients informed if this has happened and we always call in advance to notify you if an extended delay is expected. Our entire staff appreciates our patients understanding in these instances.
Reminder Service
We are committed to providing preventive healthcare. As such, patients will be asked to opt-in/out of receiving SMS & other methods of reminders.
Accessing your Health Information
Patients are entitled to request access to their file. This is done in writing addressed to the Practice Manager. A response will be forthcoming within 7 days.
Complaints
Patients have a ‘right to complain or give feedback’ and where possible, patients and others are encouraged to raise any concerns directly with the practice manager. It is our priority to make sure patients of the practice feel confident that any feedback or complaint made will be handled appropriately. Some complaints can be responded to and resolved at the time the patients or others such as carers, relatives, friends, or other consumers make them known to our practice manager. Other more in-depth complaints will go through our internal process and may take up to 14 days for an outcome. This outcome will go directly to the complainant.
If the complainant is not satisfied with the outcome after due process, they may seek further advice from the HCCC (Kristy, can you please make HCCC a link to this https://www.hccc.nsw.gov.au/)
Privacy Policy
Click HERE to access our Privacy Policy. Alternatively please request a copy from our friendly reception staff.
