About the Practice

Welcome to Rydalmere Medical Centre. We look forward to helping with all your health needs. This information sheet will help make your visit to our practice as efficient and beneficial as possible.

We were established in 2016 to meet the growing health needs of the community. We are an accredited practice with the Australian General Practice Accreditation Limited (AGPAL).

Our mission is to provide the highest quality of healthcare to all patients. All our doctors have extensive general training in general practice and also have individual areas of interest. More details can be found on our website.

We are a strictly NON SMOKING practice.

Practice Hours

Monday to Friday 9:00AM to 5:30PM
Saturday and Sunday CLOSED

We are CLOSED on Public Holidays and will be CLOSED over the Christmas break from the 25th December to the 1st January.

To see a GP outside of these hours, we recommend you go to Parramatta Medical Centre.

After hours and home visits

Rydalmere Medical Centre’s patients can access after hours GP services from the Sydney Medical Service Co-op Limited on (02) 8724 6300. (or 0406 905 732 on Saturdays 8am to 9am)

If the matter is an emergency and urgent care is needed please contact the ambulance on 000.

If needed, the nearest Hospital Emergency Departments can be found at:

Westmead Hospital Emergency Department on Corner Hawkesbury Rd and Darcy Rd

Westmead Children’s Hospital Emergency Department on Corner Hawkesbury Rd and Hainesworth St

Home visits are available to our regular patients during working hours if you live within a 2km radius of the practice and your condition prevents you from attending the surgery. However due to the doctors demanding workloads and their long hours it is reserved for the most necessary of patients.

Appointments

We welcome both appointments and walk in patients. However we do encourage patients to book in to see their GP from Monday to Friday whenever possible. This will help to make sure we have the time to see you and to help us keep our waiting times down. We do not take appointments on the weekend and patients will be seen on a walk in basis only.

You can make appointments by phoning (02) 8661 0070 during working hours.

Appointments are generally scheduled for 15 minutes. Inform our receptionist at the time of booking if you need a longer appointment time.

If you need an appointment time for more than one person please inform the receptionist.

Unfortunately emergencies do arise from time to time and these will be given priority. Please inform reception immediately if you have an urgent problem.

If you require another appointment it is advisable to book this in before you leave the practice.

Fee and Billing Schedule

Rydalmere Medical Centre is a BULK BILLING practice for all patients with a valid Australian Medicare Card.

Please be advised that NEW PATIENTS will generally be required to present their Medicare Card as well as another form of Identification on Arrival.

Private patients and patients without a Medicare Card will be charged according to time and complexity of consult. The fee will be up to the discretion of the treating doctor. We kindly ask that you pay the basic consult first and if additional charge is required, that will be collected at the end of the consultation.

**OUR FEES ARE AS FOLLOWS for all private patients WITHOUT A MEDICARE CARD:

Monday to Friday Consultations
Up to 15minute Consultation $75.00
15 to 30minute Consultation $110.00
Over 30minute Consultation (depending on complexity)
New Born Consultation $80.00
Private Child Immunisation $110.00

For your convenience we provide EFTPOS/Credit Card (Debit/Visa/Mastercard) and HICAPS (Health Fund) facilities.

Our practice welcomes patients with Work Cover issues, but the decision to take on cases is done on an individual basis and up to the treating doctor.

Please be aware some services are not covered under Medicare and may attract a private fee. These include services such as Medical Reports, Certain Drivers Licensing Reports (such as commercial licenses), Insurance Forms, Pre-employment Checks and Legal Reports. Your doctor will advise you of any fees prior to commencement.

Translation Service

Our practice has access to phone translation services for most languages and translation services for the hearing impaired. Please inform the receptionist ahead of time of booking if these services are needed. Alternatively you can book directly on 131 450.

Parking

There is FREE and EASY parking at the REAR of Rydalmere Medical Centre.

Arrival

Please see the receptionist upon arrival with your Medicare card and any Concession or DVA card if you have one. If you leave the waiting room before seeing the doctor please advise the receptionist both when leaving and when returning.

Please make sure your contact details and emergency contacts are up to date.

If we have asked you to bring you own vaccinations you will need to purchase them just before your appointment and present them immediately to our receptionist on arrival as they do not survive long outside of the fridge.

Telephone Access

If you need to contact the doctor during surgery hours please advise the receptionist. They will forward a message to the doctor if he or she is on that day. If it is not urgent it will be forwarded on the next occasion the doctor is in. If it is an urgent matter than the doctor on duty will be advised.

Patient Test Results

Patients should always make arrangements to have test results discussed with their doctor in a timely manner. For privacy issues we prefer patients to book in to discuss their results. Results will only be discussed over the phone with the doctors prior approval. If results require urgent attention we will contact you on your provided contact details. Please try and keep them up to date.

Reminders and Recalls

Rydalmere Medical Centre is committed to preventative health care. We may need to contact on some occasions with a reminder to attend for screening, health checks or if you have not attended to receive your results.

In addition to our reminders you may be entered onto Government health registers who may contact you directly. Examples of these include the Pap Smear Registry and Australian Childhood Immunisation Registry.

If you have questions about any of these please advise the doctor or receptionist.

Health Information and Privacy

Rydalmere Medical Centre is a paperless practice. This means we keep all your records on computer only. Our systems are secure and regularly backed up.

Your information is kept strictly confidential and will not be shared with other surgeries without your written consent. Please be aware that when we are referring you to other health providers it is expected that we include medical history that may be relevant.

Feedback

We are always striving to improve our practice. If you have feedback please complete a patient feedback form which can be found at reception.

This practice attempts to address any grievances internally as best as possible. In the event of a complaint not being dealt with to your satisfaction, patients are entitled to forward their complaint to

Health Care Complaints Commission
Locked Bag 18, Strawberry Hills NSW 2012
Phone: 1800 043 159 (Toll Free) or (02) 9219 7444
Fax: (02) 9281 4585 TTY: (02) 9219 7555