FAQs

No, we treat everyone.

At Nurture, we believe that both professional care and quality time are required to achieve the best health outcomes. A standard appointment with your GP is usually 15mins; you will require a longer appt if you have:

• A complex matter
• More than one matter to discuss  
• A Mental Health Care Plan or follow-up
• Other Care Plans, or
• Procedures

If you are unsure if you require a longer appointment, please ask our lovely reception staff.

Nurture has a new policy; No results will be given over the phone. 

If your GP wishes to discuss your results with you, they will ask the nurse to call you and set up a telehealth appointment, or an SMS recall will be sent to you so you can make an appointment to come in and discuss the results with your GP.

Nurture has put in place policies and procedures for our patients with respiratory symptoms.

If you or your child intend to see an Allied Health Practitioner, Nurture asks that you call and reschedule your appt until you are symptom-free and have a Negative Covid-19 test. 

If you or your child intend to see one of our GPs, Nurture has a number of options available if you or your child have respiratory symptoms, please call reception on 4772 2555 and speak with our lovely receptionist to see which option best suits your condition. 

Nurture staff and practitioners appreciate your continued support and understanding on this matter.

To ensure that you are given best practice medicine at Nurture Family Health Centre, we will be in constant collaboration with multiple health providers, allied health professionals, certain workplaces/corporations, as well as other professionals, such as lawyers and police officers. There may be instances where the sharing of clinical notes and records is required.

We would not provide records to any third party without your consent unless it was necessitated by law.

The current Australian Medical Association Guidelines for the transfer of medical records are as follows:

1. To ensure appropriate ongoing care, when a patient transfers to other medical practitioners, medical practitioners should, when asked by a patient, make available either a copy of the original record or a summary. The reasonable cost for this service should be borne by the patient.

2. While records containing patient medical information do not belong to the patient, the patient has a legal right to access those records.

3. When a patient requests that his/her records be made available to another medical practitioner, a medical practitioner should act on that request.

4. Medical practitioners are under no obligation to provide their original records. These should be retained by the practitioner who created them.

5. A copy of a patient’s record may be sent to the patient’s new practitioner. Depending on the size and/or complexity of the record, medical practitioners may wish to provide a health summary instead if the patient agrees.

6. Copies of test results and other investigations, including plans of management, should be made available. Copies of clinical reports from other medical practitioners about the patient may be included.

7. Doctors should be entitled to recover from the patient or from any other legally authorised person or authority requesting the information the reasonable cost of providing access to the information contained in a medical record.

Accordingly, Our Guidelines is as follows:

Transferring Medical Records from another Surgery to Nurture Family Health Centre

-The patient is to complete a “Transfer of Medical Records Request” form with the practitioner

-The friendly staff at Nurture Family Health Centre will fax/email the request directly to your previous doctor on your behalf

-Alternatively, you may provide your previous health care provider with the forms yourself

-In the circumstance where your previous health care provider seeks remuneration for this service, all costs charged by the previous provider will be the onus of the patient (unless otherwise arranged)

Transferring Medical Records from Nurture Family Health Centre to another Surgery

-The patient is to complete a “Transfer of Medical Records Request” form. Alternatively, you may use your new practice’s form if you wish

-You can then present the form in person, via fax, or via email to Nurture Family Health Centre

-Your health summary will then be sent for free to your new health provider

-In the unlikely situation where full records are required, they will be sent via encrypted email and will be charged $50 + GST, as per AMA recommendations

A request of Medical Records from a Third Party

-For requests from a third party (such as legal practitioners, insurance companies etc.), a signed consent form from the company which is signed by you is required, unless it is required by law before this is processed, and a fee will be charged as per the practitioner you are requesting records from.

Patient information pamphlet – FAQ telehealth consultations.

Patient pamphlet

Patient information sheet – Nurture Family Health Centre

Patient information Document

Our practitioners here at Nurture Family Health Centre work very hard to make sure they are on time for their patients booked appointments. Every time a patient fails to attend or cancels within 24 hours of their booked appointment it means that appointment is lost, and another patient would have been turned away that could have taken it. As we reserve the time for your particular needs, this policy can also be applied if you are late to your appointment, and you will be asked to reschedule.

Why we have this policy:

We strive to offer an excellent service to patients, and importantly, easy accessibility to the doctors. We are generally fully booked and when a patient doesn’t attend an appointment or cancels within 24 hrs, it means another patient will miss out. We want to continue this excellent service, please be mindful of other sick patients and give cancellation notice if you cannot attend. We keep record of all late cancellations and missed appointments; however, each case is looked at individually especially for emergencies and extenuating circumstances.

All patients are notified of this fee on their New Patient information sheet, on our SMS reminders and here on our website.

If you miss your appointment or have a late cancellation, you will be charged a $50 fee for a standard consultation or $80 for a long consultation. This fee has no medicare rebate and must be paid prior to booking your next appointment or transferring records to another medical centre.