FAQ

The following patients may be eligible for bulk billing: Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) card holders and children under 16 years of age. Please note: We are unable to bulk bill any clients on weekends. For all other consultations, please check our standard practice fees or ask reception staff.

We are a private billing practice. We do not Bulk Bill. Our standard consultation fees are listed under the Services link for each of the disciplines.
All Saturday appointments will incur a $10 additional surcharge.

Please note: When booking an appointment via HotDocs, you will be asked, and will need to enter your credit card details.

Some tests and procedures (such as travel vaccinations, dressing changes, 24 hour blood pressure monitoring, ECG etc) require payment.

Fountain Medical Practice has a cancellation fee for appointments cancelled with less than 2 hours notice (48hrs for psychology and podiatry appointment’s), or appointments that a person failed to attend. This is the entire cost of the appointment missed and must be settled prior to future appointments.

The above list is non-exclusive and there may be additional charges applicable.

The above list is for this practice. Additional investigations such as pathology, radiology and others may incur additional fees. These fees may be charged by external suppliers such as the pathology company.

All fees are payable on the day of appointment – subsequent appointments will be suspended until outstanding amounts have been reconciled.
We accept cash, Direct Debit, EFTPOS, AMERICAIN EXPRESS, VISA & MASTERCARD. Surcharges will apply for card use.

For Australian residents with private health insurance. At this point in time, private health insurance does not cover consultations with a general practitioner.

We utilise a hi-caps machine and are able to get your insurance rebate for allied health services such as podiatry and psychology. This of course depends on your level of cover.

It is the policy of this medical practice to not discuss any results over the phone. Reception and nursing staff do not have access to your results.

If you are directed to return to the practice to consult with doctor for your results, then you must discuss them with the doctor. Sometimes, if results are completely normal, nursing staff are able to advise you of this, but they cannot interpret any results. If you have any questions regarding results, you will need to schedule an appointment with your doctor.

Where possible we endeavor to accommodate non-English speaking patients.

If you require this service, please make an appointment in advance and inform us of your need for an interpreter. We will then utilize the interpreter service at your appointment.

While every effort is made to accommodate patients that cannot attend the practice. We are unable to bulk bill any home visits.

If a patient is sick or unwell, they will be triaged through the nurse and a doctor MAY be able to attend your home, otherwise hospital may be indicated.

We also utilize a deputizing service to cover the after hours doctors service that you can call out to your home when we are closed. Sydney Medical Service 8724 6300.  These doctors are fully qualified and will send a report back to your usual GP here at Fountain Medical Practice.

If your need is not urgent you may wish to book online for a face to face appointment or a telehealth appointment with your regular GP.

Parking is readily available within the Kings Cross car park that is accessed via Ward Avenue. You can also find a car park on Springfield avenue close to our address if you are lucky! We also have a drop off zone out the front of the practice, the driver must stay with the car

We are located on Ground floor. Shop 2, 10 Earl place Potts Point

During the COVID – 19 pandemic, you are able to book a telehealth/telephone consultation with your practitioner.

The telehealth/telephone consultations are charged at the same rate as our face to face consultations, your medicare rebate will be processed online for you.

Repeat prescription is charged at $25  (faxed and posted to pharmacy)

Repeat prescription is charged at $22  (sent via sms to your smart phone)

Repeat referral faxed and emailed within two business days $30.

Repeat referral same day (Urgent) $50.

Please have a pharmacy in mind when asking for repeat prescriptions during your consultation with doctor or make sure that your doctor has your correct mobile phone number.

Please note: Sleeping tablets, anti-psychotics, antibiotics and other medications are not able to be issued over the phone, you will still need a face to face consultation for these.

We are not able to issue medications to new patients via telehealth. ” It is a legislative requirement that GPs and Other Medical Practitioners (OMPs) working in general practice can only perform a telehealth or telephone service where they have an established clinical relationship with the patient.” (http://www.mbsonline.gov.au/internet/mbsonline/publishing.nsf/Content/Factsheet-TempBB).

You would also have to have had at least one face to face consultation with the practitioner in the preceding 12 months.

Depending on your level of cover with the DVA (white or gold card) and what your restrictions are for. We are able to direct bill those conditions that DVA will cover you for once we have confirmed prior approval from DVA

Please discuss this matter with your GP during your consultation.

Medical records are charged at standard workers compensation rates.

A one page medical summary may be faxed without cost

While we do encourage our patients to make an appointment to ensure consultation times run smoothly, we also welcome walk-in patients to our practice. Those who do not make an appointment will be asked to wait until a doctor becomes available.

Fountain Medical Practice – Potts Point privacy policy
Current as of: 30th June 2023
Introduction
This privacy policy is to provide information to you, our patient, on how your personal information (which includes your health information) is collected and used within our practice, and the circumstances in which we may share it with third parties.
Why and when your consent is necessary
When you register as a patient of our practice, you provide consent for our GPs and practice staff to access and use your personal information so they can provide you with the best possible healthcare. Only staff who need to see your personal information will have access to it. If we need to use your information for anything else, we will seek additional consent from you to do this.
Why do we collect, use, hold and share your personal information?
Our practice will need to collect your personal information to provide healthcare services to you. Our main purpose for collecting, using, holding and sharing your personal information is to manage your health. We also use it for directly related business activities, such as financial claims and payments, practice audits and accreditation, and business processes (eg staff training).
What personal information do we collect?
The information we will collect about you includes your:
• names, date of birth, addresses, contact details
• medical information including medical history, medications, allergies, adverse events, immunisations, social history, family history and risk factors
• Medicare number (where available) for identification and claiming purposes
• healthcare identifiers
• health fund details.
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.
How do we collect your personal information?
Our practice may collect your personal information in several different ways.
1. When you make your first appointment our practice staff will collect your personal and demographic information via your registration.
2. During the course of providing medical services, we may collect further personal information.
[Information can also be collected through electronic transfer of prescriptions (eTP), My Health Record, eg via Shared Health Summary, Event Summary, cancer screening registers, AIR etc)
3. We may also collect your personal information when you visit our website, send us an email or SMS, telephone us, make an online appointment or communicate with us using social media.
4. In some circumstances personal information may also be collected from other sources. Often this is because it is not practical or reasonable to collect it from you directly. This may include information from:
• your guardian or responsible person
• other involved healthcare providers, such as specialists, allied health professionals, hospitals, community health services and pathology and diagnostic imaging services
• your health fund, Medicare, or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (as necessary).
When, why and with whom do we share your personal information?
We sometimes share your personal information:
• with third parties who work with our practice for business purposes, such as accreditation agencies, virtual receptionists or information technology providers – these third parties are required to comply with APPs and this policy
• with other healthcare providers
• when it is required or authorised by law (eg court subpoenas)
• when it is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to a patient’s life, health or safety or public health or safety, or it is impractical to obtain the patient’s consent
• to assist in locating a missing person
• to establish, exercise or defend an equitable claim
• for the purpose of confidential dispute resolution process
• when there is a statutory requirement to share certain personal information (eg some diseases require mandatory notification)
• during the course of providing medical services, through eTP, My Health Record (eg via Shared Health Summary, Event Summary).
Only people who need to access your information will be able to do so. Other than in the course of providing medical services or as otherwise described in this policy, our practice will not share personal information with any third party without your consent.
We will not share your personal information with anyone outside Australia (unless under exceptional circumstances that are permitted by law) without your consent. Fountain Medical practice routinely utilises virtual reception personnel that may be internationally located. All team members are required to comply with Australian privacy training (OAIC) and laws.
Our practice will not use your personal information for marketing any of our goods or services directly to you without your express consent. If you do consent, you may opt out of direct marketing at any time by notifying our practice in writing.
Our practice may use your personal information to improve the quality of the services we offer to our patients through research and analysis of anonymized patient data.
We may provide de-identified data to other organisations to improve population health outcomes. The information is secure, patients cannot be identified and the information is stored within Australia. You can let our reception staff know if you do not want your information included.
How do we store and protect your personal information?
Your personal information may be stored at our practice in various forms.
Our practice stores the vast majority of information electronically, but may from time to time store information in other forms, eg as paper records, electronic records, visual records (X-rays, CT scans, videos and photos) and audio recordings.
Our practice stores all personal information securely.
Fountain Medical securely stores and protects personal information, eg electronic format, in protected information systems in a secured environment. This may be safeguarded by passwords, secure cabinets, confidentiality agreements for staff and contractors etc
How can you access and correct your personal information at our practice?
You have the right to request access to, and correction of, your personal information.
Our practice acknowledges patients may request access to their medical records. We require you to put this request in writing [using registered post or email] and our practice will respond within a reasonable time, generally 45 days. The request must have the patients matching signature and contain at least one copy of government ID such as a drivers license or passport. Secure, encrypted, password protected electronic transfer of medical records will incur a cost of $60. If the file is unable to be transferred electronically then SIRA rates will apply for printing and postage.
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 that your personal information held by our practice is correct and current. You may also request that we correct or update your information, and you should make such requests in writing to administration using email (info@fountainhealth.com.au)
How can you lodge a privacy-related complaint, and how will the complaint be handled at our practice?
We take complaints and concerns regarding privacy seriously. You should express any privacy concerns you may have in writing. We will then attempt to resolve it in accordance with our complaints handling procedure. Please put your complaint in writing addressed to the practice manager, our preferred method of contact is email – info@fountainhealth.com.au. You must include your mailing address, email, date of birth and contact number. We expect to reply to your email in 45 days.
You may also contact the OAIC. Generally, the OAIC will require you to give them time to respond before they will investigate. For further information visit www.oaic.gov.au or call the OAIC on 1300 363 992.
Privacy and our website
While we do not collect personal information via our practice website we do interact with our patients digitally (by email and third party booking apps like HotDoc). Emails containing personal information will be encrypted and password protected. Alternatively, patients are invited to come into the practice, show identification and pick up pertinent information themselves.

Policy review statement
This privacy policy will be reviewed regularly to ensure it is in accordance with any changes that may occur. Please check back here at regular intervals to see any changes that may apply