Appointments and fees
Our boutique medical practice serves workers and residents in Southbank, offering same-day appointments over 95% of the time and convenient, timely health care.
Fees
Cancellation policy
Patients who wish to cancel or reschedule their appointment must do so with at least two hours’ notice.
This will enable us to offer the appointment to another patient.
An appointment that is cancelled or rescheduled within two hours of the appointment time will be considered a missed appointment.
Freshwater Place has a three-strike policy, whereby three missed appointments/non-attendances within a 12-month period will result in patients no longer being able to book any further appointments at the practice.
Patients who wish to continue attending the clinic will have to pay the missed appointment fee of $100 before any further appointments can be made.
*Please note - patients who call in to change their appointment to a telephone consult within 2 hours of their appointment time will receive a strike on their file for non-attendance.
Changes to our billing structure
As of 1 July 2022, Freshwater Place Medical Practice will be charging a fee for all in-person (face-to-face) appointments. Due to rising cost of bills, rising interest rates and the Medicare rebates only rising by 1.5% - it has become unsustainable to continue to Bulk Bill everyone as we have tried to in the past 3 years.
We will continue to bulk bill patients with DVA cards, Centrelink pension or concession cards and children 15 years and under with valid Medicare cards.
This decision will allow us to continue providing excellent medical care and friendly service, delivered by a medical team that satisfies the highest standards in Australia.
For more details, view Appointments and Fees.
Payments
Fees are payable at the time of consultation by Cash, Cheque, Visa, Mastercard or EFTPOS.
Same-day appointments
Please contact the clinic if you require an urgent appointment on the day and cannot see one available online.
Additional fees
Telehealth
Telephone appointments will continue to be bulk billed but will be restricted to eligible patients who have had face-to-face appointments in the past 12 months and have a valid Medicare card. Telephone consults are available for short, simple consultations (< 6minutes consults) e.g. requests for referral renewals, repeat prescriptions.
Procedures
A procedure fee will apply to all patients (including concession card holders).
The out-of-pocket fee can vary between $30.00 to $200.00.
Referrals
Patients who are referred to specialists and/or radiology, pathology etc. may incur “out-of-pocket expenses” from the external provider.
Coronavirus alert
A face mask MUST be worn at all times within the clinic.
Please note we are not offering Covid-19 testing at our practice due to having limited resources.
**Please only book a phone consultation with our doctors if you have any respiratory symptoms and/or a fever.**
You will then be advised if you need to be seen in person. With any new respiratory illness/fever please immediately isolate and be tested for Covid-19 if you develop a fever and/or respiratory symptoms (sore throat, runny nose, cough, sneezing etc). A rapid antigen test (RAT) or a PCR test is acceptable.
Find available PCR testing sites near you here: https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/getting-tested-coronavirus-covid-19
If you have tested positive for Covid-19 and once allowed out of isolation, it is advised that you avoid high risk settings such as medical practices and pathology centres between day 8 and 14 and especially if you still have symptoms. Please discuss with your doctor if you have any urgent medical needs where you need to be seen face to face.
