If you are experiencing chest pain that is not settling, or a medical emergency that could be life-threatening, ring for an Ambulance on 000.

Hours: Consultations are by appointment. A Receptionist answers the telephone 07 5464 6765
Monday to Friday 7.00 am ― 4.00 pm depending on the availability of our doctors.
Sunday ― ring to hear our recorded message.
Our last booked appointment on a weekday is usually 4.30 pm.
Closed on Saturdays and Public Holidays.

Appointments: Emergencies are given priority. If you have multiple issues to discuss with the doctor please book a long consultation. If for any other reason you know you require a long consultation, please inform our Receptionist when making your appointment or choose a Long Consultation when booking online.
We do our best to offer a range of appointment times but our consultation hours may not necessarily suit your work schedule. If you need to take time off from work for a consultation, you can ask the doctor for a certificate to explain that you needed to be seen by a doctor.

We are an appointment-based practice and do not normally have the capacity to see walk-ins/patients who have not booked an appointment. Our appointment-based system does not necessarily suit all people. We recommend that anyone who does not wish to be a part of our appointment-based system seek treatment at a walk-in / non-appointment-based service.

Home visits: Available for patients with specific medical conditions at the discretion of our doctors and within a limited geographical radius from our surgery. Please ring 07 5464 6765 to speak to a Receptionist for more information.

Fees: We are a Mixed Billing practice (effective from 1 November 2023). Please see our Billing page for more information.
Fees are payable on the day of consultation.
In the event of a patient not paying for their consultation on the day, the patient will be unable to make further appointments until the outstanding fee is paid.

Did Not Attend/Did Not Arrive Policy: We have a Did Not Attend / Did Not Arrive (DNA) Policy applicable to both Concessional and Non-Concessional patients. The current Did Not Attend /Did Not Arrive fee is $45.00 plus an EFTPOS transaction surcharge paid by the patient. There is no Medicare rebate for a Did Not Attend/Did Not Arrive fee.

The Flinders Peak Medical Centre is an appointment-based general medical practice.
If you book an appointment at the Flinders Peak Medical Centre you are agreeing to the Did Not Attend/Did Not Arrive policy.

The term “Did Not Attend/Arrive” (DNA) means when a patient does not attend for a booked appointment and does not contact the practice with at least 2 hours in advance of the booked appointment time to cancel or change that appointment.  Please read below for our policy, the reasons we have this policy and how we try to help patients manage their appointments.

A booked appointment system does not necessarily suit all people. We recommend that anyone who does not wish to be a part of our appointment-based system seek treatment at a walk-in / non-appointment-based service.

Patients who do not attend an appointment have this noted in their medical record as “Did Not Attend/Arrive” or the abbreviation “DNA”. The policy applies to intermittent Did Not Attend/Arrive appointments by the same patient, meaning that the total number is considered not just consecutive Did Not Arrives/Attends.

Our policy is:
1. The first time a patient Does Not Arrive/Attend there is no charge, unless the consultation was for a Long Consultation, Procedure or a New Patient appointment. The patient will be advised of the practice’s Did Not Attend/Arrive policy. The Did Not Attend/Arrive will be noted in the patient’s medical record.
2. In the event of a second and subsequent DNA the practice will charge the patient a $45.00 fee and Did Not Attend/Arrive will be noted in the patient’s medical record.
3. In the event of a third DNA the practice reserves the right to decline to book new appointments for the patient until the cancellation fees have been paid. This will not apply to emergency appointments.
4. In the event of multiple, unpaid DNA fees the patient’s doctor and practice management will discuss and decide whether the patient is able to continue to attend the practice. The practice or the doctor can terminate the doctor – patient relationship if there is continuous patient non-compliance with presenting for scheduled appointments.
5. In the event of a DNA for a Long Consultation, Procedure or New Patient appointment the practice will charge the patient a $45.00 fee and the DNA will be noted in the patient’s medical record if one has been created. In these cases the practice reserves the right to decline to book a new appointment for the patient until the fee has been paid.
6. There are occasionally exceptional circumstances that prevent patients from being able to attend their appointments and Did Not Attend/Arrive fees may be waivered at the practice’s discretion if those circumstances are brought to the practice’s attention.

Why we have this policy: We often have a large waiting list of people wishing to see our doctors. If a patient misses an appointment with short notice, or gives no notice that they cannot attend, then this means we do not have enough time to offer the appointment to another patient on the waiting list. The issue of Did Not Attend/Arrive is a continued frustration for both patients waiting to get an appointment with a doctor and for those working in the practice.
The effect of DNAs are:
* The vacant appointment slot could have been used by another patient who needs to see a doctor.
* DNAs add to the overall waiting time for appointments.
* If the practice gives the patient who did not attend an appointment, or cancelled their appointment late, a second appointment, then this new appointment also contributes to the overall wait for others to see a doctor.
* The time and staff required to follow-up and rebook patients diverts the practice team from other duties.
* DNAs contribute to the surgery operating costs, which the practice then has to absorb. The higher the operating costs for a practice the higher the Mixed Billing fees become.
What we do to try and help: 
* We have different ways for patients to amend or appointments. This can be done in person, on the phone, via the HotDoc app or by replying to the HotDoc text reminder.
* If appointments are booked in person we may provide appointment slips that act as a reminder of the appointment and has contact details if the appointment needs to be amended or cancelled.
* If we have a patient’s mobile number a text message will be sent prior to their scheduled appointment time. Therefore, it is important to let us know if you have changed your mobile telephone number.

Communication Policy – Telephone Calls From Patients: Please make an appointment to speak with a doctor in person or by telehealth to discuss any matter.  This includes requests for prescriptions, medical forms, sick certificates or any other matters.
Doctors do not routinely take telephone calls from patients. Staff do not normally transfer a patient’s call to a doctor.
In an exceptional case you wish to leave a message for a doctor, outside of a booked appointment, a staff member will ask for your name and contact details and for the information about the nature of your request or problem. Our practice policy is that we require information about why you wish the doctor to call you and what the issue is about.
Staff will pass the message on to the doctor. We cannot guarantee the timing of the doctor’s return call, and the doctor may decide that it is more appropriate for you to have an in-person consultation or book a telehealth consultation. In this case, a staff member will advise you that you need to make an appointment.
If your matter is critical, phone an ambulance on 000 or present to the Ipswich Hospital Accident and Emergency Centre or one of the private billed accident and emergency centres listed here.
Telephone Calls from Other Medical Providers: It may be necessary for doctors to take phone calls from hospitals or other medical practitioners during the time of your consultation. Your doctor may leave the consultation to take this call.
Emails: We do not accept questions or requests for doctors via email unless the requesting patient is deaf, or Deaf (identifies as part of a Deaf Culture and Community), or hard of hearing and/or non-verbal.
Doctors may email general health information, referrals or results to a patient during that patient’s consultation rather than print this information on paper. This information is not emailed without a consultation.
Text Messages: If you have provided us with your mobile phone number, we may send you a text (SMS) message to try and contact you. We may use a text message to contact you regarding an appointment, medical recall, health reminder, Medicare or billing issue or request that you update your contact details. We do not request your banking details on a text message. Please contact us if you have any concerns or questions about a text message that you receive.

Results, Recalls, National, State and Territory Reminder Systems:
It is your responsibility to get your medical results and reports.
Please book an appointment with the doctor who requested your test(s) to discuss your results. We do not give results over the phone or by email outside of a consultation. Our Nurses and Receptionists do not give out results unless in an exceptional circumstance at the request of a doctor. 
It is also your responsibility to inform us of changes to your contact details and keep your contact details up to date with relevant National and State reminder systems for routine preventative health procedures (such as Pap Smear and Bowel Cancer test reminders).  Patients will automatically be placed on the National, State and Territory Reminder systems (for example National PAP Smear, Diabetes, Bowel Cancer registries) unless you specify otherwise.

Prescribing Policy: We do not prescribe drugs of dependence to patients at their first appointment with a doctor. It is also our policy to consult Queensland’s real-time prescription monitoring system ‘QScript’ and our doctors may also phone Medicare’s Prescription Shopping Information Service before prescribing drugs of dependence under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. These Information Services will advise if you have already been prescribed the requested medications. Please do not take offence.
Our doctors have a one doctor policy for prescribing any drugs of dependence. (Special arrangements will be made if the usual doctor is on leave).

Dressings: The surgery will supply patients their first dressing if the patient presents with a condition that the doctor feels needs dressing for the first time. Patients who have been discharged from hospital and who need dressings will need to bring in dressings – either supplied by the hospital or purchased privately. Patients who have an ongoing condition that needs dressing will need to bring in dressings purchased privately. Our Registered Nurses will give a list of what materials a patient would need to buy and bring to their next wound management appointment.

Patient Agreement: Patients are asked to sign a Patient Agreement. This is to give consent for the appropriate use and restricted disclosure of your personal health information in the course of your health care. This consent allows those involved in your health care access to the information necessary to continue the high standard of health service you have come to expect of us. If a patient has records held at a hospital and wishes for a copy of those records be sent to us, we are required to fax a signed Patient Agreement to the hospital records department. Please refer to the Patient Agreement at Reception for detailed information.

Privacy and duty of care: Your medical record is a confidential document. It is the policy of this practice to maintain security of personal health information at all times and to ensure that this information is only available to authorised members of staff. Our Practice Privacy Policy is available from our Reception desk.

Dealing with us anonymously: You have the right to deal with us anonymously or under a pseudonym unless it is impracticable for us to do so or unless we are required or authorised by law to only deal with identified individuals. If you wish to be treated as a patient anonymously or under a pseudonym you will need to pay in full yourself on the day of your treatment for your consultation(s) and you will not receive a Medicare rebate. This is because we are only able to bill consultations to Medicare for patients who provide us with Medicare-recognised and registered details.

Waiting Times: Doctors and staff work hard to provide a service that runs as smoothly as possible. When there are waiting times it is usually due to patients needing more time with the doctor than they realised when they made their appointment. We also occasionally have walk-in patients who arrive with emergency needs. These patients are given priority and the doctors will often send them to hospital in an Ambulance. This necessarily means that scheduled patients will experience some wait to be seen. If you have been waiting for more than 45 minutes, we ask that you come to the Reception desk and let us know. When our Receptionists are aware of unusually long waiting times or emergencies that have presented, they will update patients on the expected waiting time and offer an alternative doctor if available. This includes trying to contact patients who have not yet arrived at the surgery. Please help us by keeping your contact details up to date.

Code of Conduct: Our clinical and administrative staff treat patients with respect and expect to be treated with respect in return. We understand that it can be difficult for some people to manage illness, pain and worry. We ask that while you are in our building or grounds, or talking with us on the telephone, that you communicate with us if you are finding something too difficult to manage. Our doctors, staff and patients have the right to be in a safe environment and for this reason we do not accept antisocial or intimidating behaviour, physical violence or verbal abuse.

Transfer of Patient files: Your patient file cannot be transferred to other surgeries without the patient’s or guardian’s signed permission. If you wish to transfer a copy of your medical records from this surgery to another surgery, please ask your new surgery to send a formal request with your signature. The administrative cost to prepare your medical records for your new surgery is $44.00 (fee current as 19 February 2014) or $20.00 for a summary. If you wish to have a summary of your file you can request that a nurse upload a Shared Health Summary to your My Health Record if you have not opted out of the My Health Record system.

Policy on the retention and destruction of health records: The Flinders Peak Medical Centre securely destroys medical records that have not been accessed for specific time periods:
● medical records where the last entry relates to the patient age as an infant are kept from 25 years from that child’s birth;
● medical records where on the last entry relates the patient was aged under 18 years are kept until the patient turns / would have turned 25 years of age;
● medical records where on the last entry the patient was 18 years of age or over are kept until 7 years from the date of that last entry.
A secure register is kept of all patient files that have been destroyed.

How can you access and / or correct your personal information at our practice?
You have the right to request access to / updating of / correction of your personal information if we have this in a health record. This right applies to records that we hold and not to those which we have deleted in accordance with our policy outlined above about record retention and deletion. If you wish to have access to and/or correct your personal information we require you to put your request in writing to our Practice Manager who will respond within 30 days from receipt of your request. The administrative cost to prepare your medical records is $44.00 (fee current as 19 February 2014) or $20.00 for a summary. If you wish to have a summary of your file you can request that a nurse upload a Shared Health Summary to your My Health Record if you have not opted out of the My Health Record system. Our practice will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information where the information is not accurate or up to date. From time-to-time, we will ask you to verify your personal information held by our practice is correct and up to date.

Complaints and Comments: Please address in writing to:
The Feedback Manager, Flinders Peak Medical Centre, Suite 1/355 Ipswich-Boonah Road, PURGA QLD 4306.
The Flinders Peak Medical Centre aims to respond to formal complaints within 21 business days.
Alternatively, please contact the Office of the Health Ombudsman, telephone 133646, website:  www.oho.qld.gov.au or for matters related to privacy contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), telephone: 1300363992, website: www.oaic.gov.au or to the Office of the Information Commissioner Queensland, telephone: 07 3234 7373, website:  www.oic.qld.gov.au  .

Information accuracy: The information presented here is subject to change without notice. The Flinders Peak Medical Centre doctors and staff recommend that you make direct contact with the Flinders Peak staff or the listed external contacts before acting upon any of this information, particularly concerning costs, opening times and contact details.