Purposely designed services
Looking after our patients is not just our job – it’s our passion, our purpose, and our calling.
Our doctors and staff genuinely care and want to support you to enjoy your best health throughout every stage of life.
We give you comprehensive consultations with experienced, consultant-level GPs who are thorough in their approach and who treat you like the unique individual you are.
Our appointments are generous which gives your doctor time to:
- provide high-quality care
- run on time
- help you better understand your health issue without feeling rushed, and
- co-ordinate your care with other health professionals and maintain records (often after you leave the room)
What sort of appointment should I book?
Booking the correct appointment length helps us give you the high-quality service you deserve. Please use this overview as a guide when making appointments.
Long Consultation
For new patients, mental health conditions, existing patients with complex issues, or patients with multiple issues.
Standard Consultation
Usually allows time for us to properly deal with one key issue, or two smaller issues. You will be asked to book again if you have more issues to discuss.
Care Plans & Health Assessments
For patients requiring a plan for Medicare subsidised psychology or allied health services.
Comprehensive Skin Check
Our Comprehensive Skin Checks take 40-minutes and are booked with a Doctor that specialises in providing this comprehensive skin check service (not always your usual GP at Saltwater Medical). Comprehensive Skin Checks also utilise special equipment that may not be available during standard GP appointments at Saltwater Medical.
Procedures & Immunisations
Nursing support and treatment room access is required so please call reception to book these services.
Please note: Separate appointments are required if multiple people in your family are needing to be seen.
While we will always endeavour to assist, if the appropriate time and/or resources (e.g. nurse & treatment room) have not been booked, we may need to schedule another appointment so we have the right resources and/or remain on time for the patients booked after you in the doctor's list.
Not sure what type of consultation to book?
Speak with our reception staff who will be happy to assist.
Your appointment time is held especially for you, and we make every effort to run on time.
Your punctuality is appreciated as it assists us to run on time for you and our other patients. We require 4 hours’ notice if you need to cancel. We are fully booked each day, so giving us reasonable notice of your cancellation allows us to offer your appointment to other patients who are needing to see a doctor that day.
A fee applies for late/non-attendance. Serial non-attendance/lateness may also result in the inability to book further appointments.
Appointments are essential - we are not a walk-in clinic
Same day / urgent appointments
Our phones open at 7.30am Monday-Friday. We reserve a limited number of ‘On-the-Day’ appointments each day for existing patients experiencing acute issues. These appointments are NOT published online, so you will need to call the practice as early as possible to be triaged into one of them. We encourage patients to plan routine appointments (e.g. prescription renewals, screening, skin checks, referral renewals, medicals etc) ahead of time, as we are generally fully booked many days in advance. Planning routine appointments helps avoid delays/frustrations and ensures our limited number of same day / urgent appointments are used for acute issues.
More info about our most common appointments
We warmly welcome new patients to the practice, who will be booked into a Long Consultation (40-minute time slot) for their first visit. This allows your doctor the time to take a thorough history, set up your chart with your personal health data, perform any relevant examinations and deal with one or two key issues in a comprehensive manner. We find most new patient consultations take between 20-40 minutes. However, if your initial consultation takes less than 20-minutes, or more than 40-minutes, you will be billed accordingly. Please see our fee schedule for more details.
All new patient appointments require a $50 deposit which is non-refundable if you fail to attend or give less than 4-hours’ notice of your cancellation.
Please arrive at least 10 minutes prior to your new patient appointment to fill out your paperwork.
Our doctors give you the courtesy of running on time and we appreciate your punctuality in return. If you arrive unreasonably late you may be rescheduled so that the doctor is not late for other patients.
Our consultations are billed according to the time taken with your doctor, or in some cases, the complexity of the procedure or service being provided. After your initial New Patient Appointment, our most common appointment type is called a Standard Consultation which is suitable for existing patients presenting with one key issue, or two smaller issues. You will be asked to book again if you have more issues to discuss. Our Standard Consultations are booked into 20-minute time slots, which is at least 30% longer when compared to most other practices, who typically book Standard Consultations into 6 to 15-minute time slots.
We find that 20-minute Standard Consultations are more realistic, and this helps us to run on time. It also allows our patients to better manage and understand their health issues without feeling rushed.
Our consultations are billed according to the time taken with your doctor, or in some cases, the complexity of the procedure or service being provided. You will need to book a Long Consultation (40 minutes) if you have:
- multiple issues to discuss
- a complex issue
- mental health concerns
- you need a health assessment or care plan
- you’d like a Comprehensive Skin Check
- you’re having a procedure