After Hours

When Reception is closed, the main clinic number (03 9875 1111) automatically diverts as follows:

Mon-Fri up until 11:00pm

Blackburn Clinic After Hours – a service provided by a Principal doctor who has access to your records and will contact you promptly.
Fees: $180 for telephone advice or $300 for a home visit.
Alternately, telephone 13 SICK Locum (13 7425).

Mon-Fri after 11:00pm

13 SICK Locum (phone 13 7425)

Weekends and public holidays

13 SICK Locum (phone 13 7425)

Alternatively you could attend the Emergency Departments of Box Hill, Maroondah, or Knox Private Hospitals.

Appointment Reminders

A reminder text message may be sent to your mobile phone, as a courtesy, for appointments that were booked well in advance. It remains the responsibility of the patient to attend their appointment, and appointment reminders are not guaranteed.

Autonomy

It is the policy of the Blackburn Clinic that all doctors have complete autonomy in clinical decision making, in whom they refer patients to, and to which pathology and diagnostic imaging services they refer.

Appointments

On weekdays and evenings, consultation is by appointment. You are encouraged to see the same doctor for continuity of care, and our reception staff will make every effort to achieve this for you. If it is not possible, the receptionist will be able to offer alternatives. Urgent consultations can usually be accommodated because of our flexible appointment system. On weekends and public holidays patients are seen in order of arrival and no appointment is necessary.

Longer Appointments

Some consultations – for example insurance medicals, pre-employment medicals, female health checks (including Pap. Tests), complete health checks, surgical procedures, and travel health – require a longer consultation. Please inform the receptionist when you are making an appointment for these so enough time can be allowed.

Documents for GP to complete

Sometimes a third party will ask you to have forms filled out by your doctor. Examples of these include:- Immunisation certificates, Department of Social Security Reviews, school camp asthma plans etc. Please make an appointment to see your doctor for these. In certain circumstances, your doctor may agree to complete work for you without your attendance. A.M.A. fees will apply to these services.

Feedback and Complaints

Feedback (both complementary and constructive) is welcomed by both the GPs and the service facility provider. Regular surveys are conducted , so occasionally you may be asked to complete one of these. If there are other matters you wish to raise with the practice, you may write to the Practice Manager (Blackburn Clinic Carson Suite, PO Box 42, Blackburn South 3130). If you need to take the matter further, you may contact the Health Complaints Commissioner, Level 26, 570 Bourke St, Melbourne 3000. Phone: 1800 582 113.

Forms

Travel Health Questionnaire – please complete this form and bring it to your travel health consultation.  Option-this form can be filled out online on compatible devices before printing.

45-49 Year Old Health Check – please complete this form and bring it to your 45-49 Year Old Health Check.

Complete Health Check Questionnaire – if you have booked for a Complete Health Check, please complete this form and return it to Blackburn Clinic at least four days before your appointment.

New Patient Registration form.

MedicineInsight program Patient Opt-Out form. See the heading ‘MedicineInsight’ on this page for more information.

Home Visits

During weekdays the doctors do home visits for patients in the local area if necessary.  Where possible we ask that you ring before 10.00 a.m. to arrange these.  Sometimes demand for this service will exceed the doctors’ ability to respond and you may be asked whether you would like a locum visit arranged.  A.M.A. fees will be charged for all home visits.

Interpreters / Hearing Impaired

Reception staff can arrange free language interpreters via the Translating & Interpreter Service  for your appointment if required.

Auslan interpreters from NABS can be arranged by hearing impaired patients or by reception. NABS is NOT a free service (except for over 65s without an NDIS package).

Please request these well in advance with our reception team.

MedicineInsight

MedicineInsight is a national primary health care data program run by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission) in partnership with general practices across Australia.
The program is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care and has received ethics approval from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) (Reference Number: 23-171).
MedicineInsight collects patient information from the medical records held in this practice and sends it to a secure database in Australia. This information is combined with data from other general practices across Australia to form a database. The information the practice sends to this database is non-identifiable – this means it does not have names or any personal information that might identify the patient. This database enables the Commission to compare and discover trends in diagnoses, treatments, and outcomes of general practice patients at a national level. For more detail please see the Patient Information sheet about MedicineInsight.

Only authorised people from the Commission are allowed to access the information held in the MedicineInsight database. Your practice and the Commission work together to take reasonable steps to ensure the information collected about you is used and stored in a way that is safe, secure and in line with privacy policy. A copy of the Commission’s privacy policy can be found here: www.safetyandquality.gov.au/about-us/governance/privacy-policy.

The practice will automatically send your non-identifiable information to MedicineInsight unless you tell the practice that you do not want it to be sent. Being part of the MedicineInsight collection is voluntary and you can opt out at any time, for any reason. Any decision you make will not influence the standard of care you receive now or in the future, or your relationship with your doctor.
If you don’t want this practice to send your non-identifiable information to MedicineInsight, you can opt out of the program by completing the MedicineInsight Opt Out form and returning it to Privacy Office, Blackburn Clinic, PO Box 42, Blackburn South 3130, or in person to the clinic.

Parking

Ample parking for 140 cars, including disabled parking, is available at the rear of the clinic. An undercover drive through main entrance (in Maple Street) allows for patient drop-off at the main entrance. There is easy wheelchair access and no steps or stairs. Wheelchairs are available at reception. Please never leave your car parked in the drive-through area as Ambulances frequently need access to the main building entrance. Patients are asked to use the public footpath in Maple Street to walk from the car park to the clinic.

Prescriptions

All prescriptions (including repeats) require a telehealth or face-to-face appointment.

Privacy

Your privacy has always been a high priority at Blackburn Clinic. The software used by the doctors, and the IT infrastructure and systems are designed to take great care of private information about you that is collected. The doctors and the staff take every effort to comply with both the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic), the Privacy Act 1998 (Cth), and the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012. To view the Blackburn Clinic Medical Services Privacy Policy, please click here.

Repeat Referrals

Consultations are required for repeat referrals, and if solely for a repeat referral may be bulk billed, at the doctor’s discretion.

Reminder System

To improve continuity of care, the doctors offer a reminder service. These may be sent as an SMS (with DOB required to access the reminder detail) or by letter. If, for some reason you do not wish to use this service, please notify your doctor or the reception staff. While the administration team make every effort to send reminders, it must be stressed that it is the patient’s responsibility to return for further assessment or check-ups if the doctor has indicated this is necessary.  If you prefer not to receive SMS reminders please notify reception.

Results of Investigations

Unless previously organised with your doctor, patients should make an appointment for results of investigations. If your doctor has specifically advised that you may obtain your results by telephone, please ensure you ring the doctor who ordered the tests, at a time indicated to you by the doctor. Results of investigations will not be given to you over the telephone by nursing or reception staff or by doctors other than the one who ordered the test.

Telephone Calls to Your Doctor

If you phone the Clinic requesting to speak to your doctor, you may be asked to leave a number on which you can be contacted. Most doctors return phone calls at the end of their session (either during their lunch break or at the end of the day). If the matter is urgent, either your doctor, another doctor or the practice nurse will be able to take your call immediately.

Please understand that in many instances, the doctor or nurse will be unable to provide advice over the telephone. There are risks of providing incorrect advice over the phone, and wherever possible, patients are encouraged to attend the clinic in person.

Waiting Times

Doctors are aware of the importance of their patients’ time and endeavour to see their patients at the booked times.  This is not always possible, due to reasons including: medical emergencies, unexpected phone calls from other health workers regarding sick patients, earlier consultations running overtime because insufficient time was booked, extra family members being squeezed into appointments and many others. If your doctor is running behind schedule you will be notified.  You may be offered an alternate doctor, if one is available, but the choice will be entirely yours.