(02) 9331 5080
Appointments
Paddington Family Practice is a private billing practice. Consultation fees are payable at the time of consultation. We accept cash, EFTPOS or credit card.
To ensure adequate time for comprehensive care we operate by appointment only. Please note that medical emergencies and sick children are always given priority. Our doctors spend as much time as necessary with every patient so sometimes there are delays. You can help us by making a longer appointment for complex or multiple problems.
Standard appointments are up to 15 minutes long
Long Appointments are between 15 to 30 minutes long
Extended Appointments are those longer than 30 minutes
Please book the appropriate length consult
On the 6th March the government released new legislation allowing all patients to receive the same medicare rebate for phone or video consultations as they would for face-to-face consultation. The purpose of these telehealth consultations is to allow unwell or vulnerable patients access to their regular GP.
Paddington Family Practice has chosen to keep our practice open and to continue to offer in-person consultations. We believe in-person consultation is the gold standard in patient care and we are now recommending patients transition predominantly back to face to face care.
FEES
Online Medicare Claiming – Medicare Rebates
For your convenience, we can transmit your request for Medicare rebate electronically, eliminating the need to lodge your claim with Medicare. Please ensure you have updated your bank details with Medicare and your address details are correct.
Consultation Fees
To assist you to understand our billing protocols, we have provided indicative pricing based upon the length of time you are with the Doctor and/or Nurse. However, if multiple or complex issues are discussed, a higher fee may be charged. Some particular types of consultations will attract differing charges and Medicare rebates.
Standard Appointment up to 15 minutes $100.00 (Medicare rebate of $41.40)
Long Appointment between 15 and 30 minutes $170.00 (Medicare rebate of $80.10)
Extended Appointment over 30 minutes $240.00 (Medicare rebate of $118.00)
GP Mental Health Care Plans less than 30 minutes $240 (Medicare rebate of $100.20)
Antenatal consult up to 15 minutes $120 (Medicare rebate of $51.90)
Phone consults are charged privately at the same rate as in-person consultations, however medicare rebates for long phone consultations are no longer available unless you have signed up for My Medicare.
Procedure Fees
Additional charges will be incurred when associated with procedures. These are out of pocket fees and are non refundable by Medicare. This helps cover the costs of various item used during the procedure including disposable equipment, surgical packs, antiseptic solutions, local anaesthetic, sutures, dressings and steri-strips.
Your Doctor will discuss with you the cost of any procedures at the time of your consultation.
Cancellation fees apply if appointments are cancelled within 24 hours of appointment time.
Changes to our Bulk Billing Policy from 1st September, 2022
Unfortunately, we are no longer able to Bulk Bill as many patients as we currently do. Bulk billing means the doctor and the practice accept the Medicare rebate as full payment for our services. There are no additional payments from Government or elsewhere. Many patients do not realise that Medicare was set up as a national health insurance scheme. This means, that just like you may receive a rebate from your private health insurance for your dentist or physiotherapist visit, the Government provides a Medicare rebate for certain health services. When Bulk Billing was introduced and adopted by many practices, the Medicare rebate represented 85% of the common fee.
Since 2010 healthcare inflation in Australia has been about 5% per year. Last year practice costs rose by 10%. Funding for hospitals, pharmacy and private medical insurance have all risen approximately in line with health inflation at around 5% per year.
Your Medicare rebate increased by 0.5% per annum on average and was completely frozen between 2014-2018. Both Labor and Coalition Governments are responsible for this - Labor started the Medicare Freeze and the Coalition continued it.
Unfortunately, due to Federal Government policies such as the Medicare Freeze, the Medicare rebate has decreased significantly in real value over the last decade and has not kept up with health care inflation. The Medicare rebate of $39 for a consult less than 20 minutes equates to 44% of our standard fee of $90. This is a 56% discount, which we are unfortunately unable to sustain. Providing high quality General Practice means we need to employ nurses, receptionists, and other support staff; purchase, maintain and sterilise clinical equipment; manage correspondence, results, recalls and reminders; and provide a safe and comfortable environment for patients to receive care among numerous other things. As an AGPAL accredited practice, we meet stringent accreditation requirements which you can learn about here.
Despite numerous calls for Medicare reform, there has been no action from the Federal Government.
Demand for General Practice services is anticipated to increase by 37% over the next 10 years. However, fewer than 15% of medical students intend to train as specialist GPs compared to 50% in the past. The supply of GPs is expected to reduce by 3% next year.
If you wish to read more news articles about this you can find more here:
- Tradies-earn-DOCTORS-GPs-ditching-Medicare-bulk-billing-sending-broke.html
- Local-doctors-issue-urgent-warning-on-medicare
- gps-campaign-for-medicare-reform
We encourage you to ask your Federal Election candidates what they will do about supporting patient's to access quality and affordable General Practice.
We are here to support you
As a practice, we are committed to supporting those patients who are suffering considerable financial distress. If you are one of these patients, please let us know about your financial circumstances by contacting our practice manager at mcampbell@paddingtonfamilypractice.com.au to let us know about your circumstances.
For those people who are unemployed, on a means tested aged pension or a disability pension, we will work with you to determine a sustainable way of providing you the care and compassion you deserve. This may involve us setting aside specific appointment times reserved for our bulk billing patients. Outside of these times we will not be able to bulk bill patients, except in urgent and extenuating circumstances.