Frequently Asked Questions
APPOINTMENTS . . .
The Practice is open from 8.30am – 5.00pm Monday to Friday and on Saturday from 8:30am – 12pm for urgent appointments only.
Routine, non-emergency matters, are dealt with on an appointment system. You may book online, telephone or call in at time during opening hours to make, or change an appointment.
If you have a medical emergency please tell the staff at the time you ring. We do keep some appointments for urgent matters only each day.
If you feel you may need a longer appointment, or procedure, please let the staff know when making the booking. A separate appointment is usually needed for each member of a family. Please inform staff when booking appointments if more than one family member needs to be seen.
New patient appointments and six-week check ups for mothers and babies require a double appointment, please tell the staff when you book your appointment.
Urgent home visits can be provided and arranged as necessary.
FEES . . .
Standard Consult $93.00 – Pension $83.00
Long Consult (up to 29 minutes) - $150.00 – Pension $130.00
Long Consult (30 to 39 minutes) - $170.00 - Pension $150.00
Repeat Prescriptions: $20.00
SATURDAY MORNING
PENSIONER AND UNDER 18 DISCOUNTS WILL NO LONGER APPLY
Standard Consultation $99.00
Long Consultation (up to 29 minutes) $159.00
Long Consultation (30 to 39 minutes) $179.00
We request payment of fees in full at time of consultation. Otherwise, a higher fee is charged. Payment can be made by cash, credit card or EFTPOS.
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If you are having any difficulty paying your account, please discuss with your Doctor to make appropriate arrangements.
We no longer bulk bill patients under the age of 16 years, however ALL CHILDHOOD IMMUNISATIONS AND ROUTINE INR MONITORING WILL BE BULK BILLED.
Face masks are still required to be worn in the surgery if you have cold or flu like symptoms. We appreciate your cooperation in keeping patients and staff safe and well.
CANCELLATION POLICY
We understand that at times appointments need to be changed. A minimum of 1 hours' notice prior to your appointment is required for cancellation or change of appointment time.
Patients not attending or cancelling their appointment within 1 hour of their scheduled appointment will be charged a non-attendance fee of $44 per 15 minute booked appointment time.
No subsequent appointments will be booked until the non-attendance fee is settled.
We understand that sometimes you may be unable to keep an appointmetn because of sudden illness or an unexpected personal emergency. If this happens to you, please contact reception as soon as possible to explain the situation.
ONLINE CLAIMING . . .
Blamey Street Surgery offers online Medicare claiming for patients with registered details lodged at Medicare on paid invoices. Rebates are paid directly into the patient’s nominated cheque or savings account within two to three working days (sometimes even sooner).
AFTER HOURS . . .
In the case of an emergency, call 000
Blamey Street Surgery is affiliated with Wagga Wagga GP After Hours Service. The service operates Monday – Friday from 7pm – 9pm, Saturday from 6pm – 9pm and Sunday from 9am – 1pm and 5pm – 9pm. A doctor is available by phone from 9pm – 8am daily. Telephone - 6931 0900. The Wagga GP After Hours Service is open all public holidays.
The emergency Department at Wagga Wagga Base Hospital is open 7 days per week, 24 hours per day. Telephone 02 5943 1000
REFERRALS TO SPECIALISTS . . .
Referrals to other doctors and health care providers will be decided between you and your doctor, to meet your agreed treatment program. An appointment is required for all referrals to specialists. Referrals CANNOT be backdated.
PRESCRIPTIONS . . .
Repeat prescriptions are provided in the course of normal consultations. Your doctor will advise you of when you should return for review of your condition and repeats for your medication.
Repeat prescriptions can be requested by your regular doctor if you have had an appointment within the last six months.
Requests may take several days to be processed and is subject to your regular doctor working on the day of receiving the request and having approved the request on clinical grounds.
Repeat prescriptions for addictive medication including benzodiazepines and opiates, pain medication, sleeping pills or antibiotics are not provided over the phone. Please make an appointment with your regular doctor.
There is a charge for this service – $20.00.
TEST RESULTS . . .
Please allow up to 3 days to receive your results.
Patients will only be contacted if results require further action.
Your doctor will review your results once received, if your results are determined to be urgent, your doctor will call you directly.
If your doctor determines your results are non-urgent, you will recieve an SMS recall (if consent has been obtained) or a telephoen call requesting you to book a non-urgent follow-up appoitnmetn with your doctor.
TELEPHONING YOUR DOCTOR . . .
To minimise the disruption to your doctor, phone calls from patients requesting to speak to the docotr will not be put through at the time of the call, unless the matter is urgent.
A secure message will be sent to the doctor, who will advise the reception staff how to proceed. Alternatively, if our practice nurse is available, they may be able to assist you.
BILLING ARRANGEMENTS . . .
Payment is expected at time of consultation – cash, eftpos and all major credit cards are accepted. We are not a Bulk-Billing Practice and we do not have accounts. Additional costs may be incurred if you have extra procedures or tests (your doctor or a receptionist will advise you of this) most of these are claimable from Medicare. A copy of the doctors’ fees is displayed at the front desk. If you are experiencing difficulty in paying our fees, please discuss this with your Doctor.