Unintentional slips sometimes happen in a busy General Practice. We encourage you to communicate any concerns you may have about your fees by calling the clinic or completing an online form on our website, and we will attend promptly to resolve your concern. Please be aware that some billing issues may unfortunately be out of our control and may require you to call Medicare to resolve the issue.

Booking the appointment implies you are aware of the fees to be charged. These apply especially for procedures and private vaccines. It is your responsibility to check the fees and your eligibility to claim Medicare rebates for Mental Health Care Plans and Chronic Disease Management Plans when booking an appointment. Your GP and nurse would usually go through this with you when advising you to book the consult.

We charge an out-of-pocket fee for most consultations and require payment at the end of your appointment. If you have an outstanding payment, we are unable to book another appointment for you or your dependants until this payment is settled. This may include appointment, ‘Did not attend (DNA)’, online script/referral request fees and any outstanding payment for family members linked to your account.

It is our standard policy that fees may apply if you do not attend your appointment, fail to cancel your appointment at least 2 hours prior, or run late beyond a certain time for your appointment. You are welcome to pass on a message to your GP in exceptional, unavoidable circumstances.

If your regular GP bulk-bills or charges you a discounted fee at their discretion, this may not apply when you see another GP at the clinic. We do not routinely bulk-bill.

Yes. Patients must enter their card details to secure bookings for all new patient, infectious and telehealth appointments. Your card is securely tokenised and will only be debited according to the schedule fee (if applicable) once the consultation is completed. Our staff will always gain your consent to store your card details for future transactions.

If you do not feel comfortable paying over the phone or using the secure link provided, please let our reception team know to organise an in-person payment. We are unable to accept bank transfers because of the significant administrative cost associated with this process. If you want to pay by cash, you must provide the exact change. We do not keep cash at our clinic.

Full private fees plus a surcharge of $15 apply on weekends. Bulk-billing and discounted rates do not apply during weekend appointments.

No, we are a private-billing clinic. Please refer to “Medicare has failed bulk-billing” on why we do not routinely bulk-bill. There is a gap fee of at least $20 in all our consults but if you have any significant financial difficulties, please discuss with your doctor. The items that we bulk-bill include GP Management Plans (GPMP), Team Care Arrangements (TCA), Review of GPMP/TCA, 75+ years old Health Checks, once-off 45-49 years old Health Checks and Aboriginal Health Checks. You can check your eligibility for these with your regular doctor.

We do not routinely bulk-bill appointments for results discussion or scripts/referrals.

No, we do not routinely bulk-bill aged pensioners/healthcare card holders/concession card holders/full-time students. We provide a discounted rate for this group of patients. Your pensioner or concession card, or student ID, must be up to date to be eligible for this discount.

No, this is not routinely bulk-billed.

No, you will not be bulk-billed.

All Worksafe and TAC consults require upfront payment. Worksafe and TAC consults may incur an out-of-pocket fee. It is then the patients’ responsibility to claim TAC and Workcover compensation. We will provide you the invoice to claim back from Worksafe and TAC.

Facility fees cover consumables, instrument sterilising and dressings. These may be charged from $5-$55 depending on the complexity of the procedure. The facility fee is payable at the time of the procedure.

Booking the right appointment type and duration: Being mindful that some types of consultation can take longer such as mental health consultations, and booking a longer appointment for this will ensure your issues are thoroughly covered and reduce the need for you to return for another consultation. This will also ensure your doctor does not run late, and waste time for the next patient in line. Checking your Medicare Safety Net: If you need to see a doctor or get tests regularly, you could end up with high medical costs. Medicare Safety Nets can help to lower your out of pocket costs. Once you have reached your Safety Net, your out-of-pocket fees for your consults will be significantly less. For more information, please refer to https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/medicare-safety-nets Online script/referral request: You can request for most repeat scripts (except S8 Medicines) and renew existing referrals online instead of booking a standard consultation. This will cost less and save you time.

Insurance and medical reports are charged based on the duration required to complete the report and do not attract a Medicare rebate. Centrelink forms require an appointment with your GP to complete. Please enquire with your doctor or reception.

Charges on your debit and credit card will always appear slightly higher due to surcharges imposed by the financial institution providing the convenience of these transactions. These surcharges may vary from time to time.

If you can book online at thecranegp.com.au, please try this first. If you cannot find any appointments online, please call the clinic at 90883258. We have a limited number of appointments available to deal with emergencies on the day which do not show up online. These are booked on a first come, first serve basis and may not be with your regular doctor. We strongly advise that you call us as soon as possible. The later you leave it, the less likely we can accommodate your needs. There may be times where all our doctors are fully booked and it is unsafe to fit any more patients in for the day. If this is the case, our receptionists will advise you to attend another clinic or the Emergency department, and they can email you your health summary if needed.

You will need to book a phone appointment (fees apply). If your doctor is fully booked on that day or is away, we can send a message to your doctor but this does not guarantee that they can call you back on the same day. Our doctors have appointments booked throughout the day without any breaks, except for lunch. They usually start consulting at 8.30am and finish at 5.30pm. Outside of these hours, they have non-work-related commitments and cannot be expected to ‘stay back’ to call you.

Where possible, we will always try to book complex patients in with their regular doctor. We cannot guarantee that you can consult with your regular GP on the same day, but we can pass the message on to your doctor and let you know. Our doctors communicate with each other regularly and maintain thorough clinical notes so rest assure that any doctor in our clinic will have your full medical history and clinical notes to provide you with a thorough consultation. Where another doctor in our clinic provides you with a specialist referral for chronic conditions, the specialist will be advised to re-direct letters back to your regular doctor.

You can contact 13SICK (13 7425) National Home Doctor Service or attend your nearest Emergency Department. You may also like to consider emergency after hours telehealth providers such as: - Healthdirect - MyEmergency Doctor - KidsDocOnCall (subscription required) - Cub Care Urgent Paediatric Consults

You will usually receive a text message to remind you about your upcoming appointment 2 days prior. There are a few reasons why you may not have received this reminder: - you have provided an incorrect mobile number - you do not have a mobile number registered in our system - you have chosen not to receive any text messages from our system - you do not actually have an appointment This is an issue, especially if you have booked a phone appointment. Please ensure you call our reception team to clarify this and confirm your appointment.

Please refer to: I need to see a doctor today. What should I do?

At times, there can be unexpected emergencies, relating to a physical or mental health issue for a patient, which may take your doctor a longer time to resolve. Our receptionists will always try their best to inform you by text message or phone call if your doctor is running more than 30 minutes late. Sometimes, this may not happen if our receptionists are inundated with phone calls and administrative work. There are some pro-active steps you can take to reduce your waiting time: - please call the clinic ahead of time to check if your doctor is running late. We can always re-schedule your appointment if necessary. - where possible, please allow about 30 – 60 minutes leeway in your schedule when booking your appointment - please attend your appointment on time – if you are late, your appointment will be shortened or cancelled (fees may apply) to prevent your doctor from running late for their next patient - please respect your appointment duration with your doctor. A Standard 15-minute appointment can usually only cover ONE issue, allowing for history taking, physical examination, discussion of the management plan and paperwork time to complete scripts and referrals. A Long 30-minute appointment can usually cover TWO issues, and a Prolonged 45-minute appointment THREE issues. You are advised to present your list of issues to your doctor at the start of the appointment to negotiate the agenda and how much time is required. You may be required to book another appointment to follow up on the rest of your issues to prevent your doctor from running late for their next patient.

Yes, you can do this by calling our receptionist. We endeavour to keep our waiting times for non-urgent appointments within 2-3 weeks but sometimes this may not be possible when our doctors are on leave.

Immunisation appointments are booked with the nurse only and your doctor will greet you briefly to check that the vaccine/s are correct. Our nurse will routinely measure your child’s weight at ages 6 weeks, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months and 4 years old. There will not be enough time for your doctor or nurse to provide you with clinical advice unrelated to the immunisation. You will need to book a separate appointment for this.

No, this is not safe. Our nurses are not trained to diagnose and manage a medical issue. If you cannot get an appointment with any of our doctors, it means they are fully booked and do not have time for another consultation, even if it was with the Nurse.

Only if we have appointments with our doctors. Otherwise, we will refer you elsewhere.

Yes. You are required to book a specific “Fitness to Drive Assessment” appointment which includes seeing the nurse first for 15 minutes, followed by 30 minutes with your doctor. The same process applies for a renewal of your existing fitness to drive recommendation. Please bring along any relevant paperwork. Please do not hand this to your doctor during a regular appointment and expect your doctor to complete it at their own time. These assessments are privately billed and may not always attract a Medicare rebate, so please check with your doctor before booking.

Yes, please book a 15-minute appointment with your doctor to complete this. Unfortunately, our doctors do not have time to complete this without an appointment. Please ensure you have completed your part first and bring along your Reference number or application form.

Yes. You are required to book a specific “Work-related Medical Assessment” appointment which includes seeing the nurse first for 15 minutes, followed by 30 minutes with your doctor. Please bring along any relevant paperwork. These assessments are privately billed and do not attract a Medicare rebate. You will have to pay upfront and pass the invoice on to your employer if you want to claim from them.

Yes, you need an appointment with your doctor. The fees will depend on the length of your consultation or any arrangements you make with the doctor.

Yes, you need an appointment to discuss this with your doctor. Please ensure you email the relevant paperwork to admin@thecranegp.com.au at least 2 days before your appointment. Please be aware that you may not always get the full Medicare rebate for the time spent completing this paperwork and you will incur a fee based on the amount of time your doctor spends on it. We do not bulk-bill these appointments.

Yes, you need an appointment to discuss this with your doctor. Please ensure you email the relevant paperwork to admin@thecranegp.com.au at least 2 days before your appointment. Please be aware that you may not always get the full medicare rebate for the time spent on completing this paperwork and you will incur a fee based on the amount of time your doctor spends on it. We do not bulk-bill these appointments but you are welcomed to discuss with your doctor if you have financial difficulties.

If you require a Workcover medical certificate or scripts/referrals related to your Workcover claim, yes, you will need an appointment. Please note that Workcover does not pay for any scripts/referrals outside of the consultation and you will have to cover the cost yourself. If Workcover requires a medical report to be completed for your claim, they will usually email or fax a request to your doctor. We will invoice accordingly and once paid by Workcover, we will submit the report.

You should always get a confirmation text message within a few minutes of booking your appointment online or over the phone with our receptionists. We encourage you to download the free clinic app AMS Connect via your app store and follow the prompts. This app will display all your appointments and allow you to make changes. You can also include your family members and manage their appointments under the same app. You may not get a confirmation text message if your doctor or nurse booked your next appointment during your consultation. You can call our receptionists or check your app to confirm this.

This means you have an URGENT abnormal result which requires discussion with your doctor, usually within 1-2 days. Our nurse will call you to ensure you are booked in accordingly if you have not done so.

Please book an appointment within 1-2 weeks of receiving this text message. It is reasonable for your appointment to take place within 4 weeks of receiving this text message.

Yes. You will be sent a second reminder text message 24 hours later if you do not reply. Failure to reply before the day of your appointment may result in the cancellation of your appointment (fees apply). For some higher value appointments (eg. long appointments, procedures etc), you may receive a phone call to confirm your appointment if you fail to reply by text.

No. Please call us back during business hours or send us an email at admin@thecranegp.com.au.

No, we do not encourage this unless a prior arrangement has been made with your doctor or nurse. Email is not a safe platform for timely clinical communication or appointment booking, and our emails are not constantly monitored. If you have a matter to discuss with your doctor or nurse, please book an appointment. If you still choose to email your doctor or nurse, please be aware that they are not obliged to reply.

We do not encourage this because email is not a suitable platform for time dependant matters such as appointment bookings. Our emails and online forms are not constantly monitored and it may take up to 3 business days for us to respond. We encourage you to download the free clinic app AMS Connect via your app store and follow the prompts. This app will display all your appointments and allow you to make changes. You can also include your family members and manage their appointments under the same app. You can also manage your appointments at http://ams.2.vu/TCGPMMyAppt If you cannot change your appointment online, please call the clinic.

Yes, you can call the clinic and ask to speak with our Practice Manager.