Huon Valley Medical Services

New Patients

• New patients are currently being accepted by both medical practices.

Appointments

• Consultation is by appointment. Refer to each medical centre specific opening hours for either the Dover or Geeveston sites. The staff will make every effort to accommodate your preferred time. Emergencies will always be given priority and the staff will make you aware of any known delays. Some medical problems require a longer consultation time, and you will assist us greatly by indicating to the staff whenever you require a longer appointment.
  
• Booking a long appointment is important for more complex problems – insurance medical, health review, counselling, a second opinion etc. This may involve a longer wait. Please bring all relevant information.
  
• Please notify us if you are unable to attend an appointment well in advance.
  
• If more than one person from your family wishes to see the doctor at the same time, please ensure a separate appointment is made for each family member.
  
• Time is valuable to all of us.  If you fail to attend appointments without adequate explanation, we cannot guarantee you future booked appointments.

• Advance care planning
  
• Allied health services
  
• Antenatal shared care
  
• Asthma management
  
• Care Plans
  
• Cervical screening
  
• Travel advice
  
• Child and Adolescent Health Care
  
• Family planning and contraception
  
• Immunisations
  
• Health assessments
  
• Diabetes management
  
• Medical assessments
  
• Men and Women Health Care
  
• Mental Health Care
  
• My Health Record
  
• Online appointments, prescriptions and referrals
  
• Palliative care
  
• Practice nursing
  
• Skin checks
  
• Telehealth consultations
  
• Wound care

We are a private billing practice.  Patients will still receive the Medicare rebate, however, a gap or out of pocket fee will now be charged by the practice. Vulnerable groups, such as pensioners, Health Care Card holders and children under the age of 16 will have a reduced out of pocket fee for consultations. Huon Valley Medical Services will continue to bulk bill all Health Assessments and Chronic Disease Management Plans.

All fees are payable at the time of consultation.  Payment can be made by cash, cheque, credit card or EFTPOS.

Patient contact

In our Centre, GP’s and clinical staff receive and return telephone calls and messages between patient appointments or after surgery depending on urgency.

Referrals

Doctors in this practice are competent at handling common health problems.  When necessary, they can use opinions from specialists.  You can discuss this openly with your doctor.

Feedback

We strive to improve for your benefit.  Please direct any queries or complaints to the Council’s Manager Medical Services by telephoning (03) 6264 0364 or email hvc@huonvalley.tas.gov.au

Translation services

For patients who speak languages other than English the Translation and Interpreter Service (TIS) is available.  For patients who are deaf, information is provided through the  National Relay Service (NRS)

Reminder system

Because our practice is committed to preventative care, we may send you an occasional reminder regarding health services appropriate to your care.  If you wish to opt out of this, please let us know.

Test results

It is your responsibility to ensure you follow-up test results, particularly when practice staff or your doctor stress that you do this.  Ask reception staff about the best way to go about it.

Medical record confidentiality

Your medical record is a confidential document. It is the policy of this practice to maintain the security of personal health information at all times and to ensure that this information is only available to authorised members of staff. We abide by the Privacy Act.

Use and disclosure

Your personal health information is used or disclosed only for the purposes directly related to your health providers who are involved with your care. There may be some circumstances when information may be disclosed without the patients consent, these include:
• Emergencies
• Providing Medicare, Hobart Pathology, Regional Imaging, Private Health providers, with information for billing and rebate purposes.
• By law, doctors are sometimes required to disclose information for the public interest, e.g. Mandatory reporting of communicable diseases.
• It may be necessary to disclose your personal health information to fulfil medical indemnity insurance obligations.

Your details, medical records and consultations within the Huon Valley Medical Services are kept strictly confidential. Generally, your health information is only accessed by authorised personnel and will not be released without your written permission. Only de‐identified data may be used for research purposes.

Data Security

Your personal health information is securely stored and only accessed when necessary for your care. Your consent is required when transferring to another practice. Your new doctor will arrange this with you. Your records are held for a minimum of seven (7) years after your last attendance or up to the age of 25 years for your child.

Health Complaints

Contact:
Health Complaints Commissioner & Ombudsman
GPO Box 960
HOBART TAS 7001
Phone: 1800 001 170

We have two medical practices, Dover and Geeveston. The contact details below are for both practices.

Phone: 03 6124 2505
Fax: 03 6213 1933

Email: reception@huonvalleymedical.com.au

Note if the information being sent is confidential or sensitive then the document should be faxed to the relevant practice rather than emailed