We listened to you and we are improving patient care.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the recent patient survey to see how we are performing in areas of privacy, communication, continuity of care and access and availability.    

WE ARE PLEASED THAT 93% OF ALL OUR PATIENT RATINGS WERE GOOD, VERY GOOD OR EXCELLENT.

  At Pound Road Medical Centre we carried out a patient survey (the Practice Accreditation and Improvement Survey) and asked for your honest opinions on the services we provide. We listened to your concerns and have taken the following actions in order to make improvements to patient care where you feel it would be most useful:

WE HOPE TOGETHER WE WILL IMPROVE OUR SERVICES.

HAT YOU HAVE TOLS US  AND WHAT WE HAVE DONE

Symptoms

If you have serious symptoms such as difficulty breathing, call 000 for urgent medical help.

Symptoms include:

• fever
• coughing
• sore throat
• fatigue
• shortness of breath

If you are sick and think you might have COVID-19, check your symptoms using healthdirect's Coronavirus (COVID-19) Symptom Checker.

healthdirect Coronavirus (COVID-19) Symptom Checker

Answer questions about your symptoms to see if you need to seek medical help or get tested. This tool is available online at any time.

Protect others and stop the spread

We can all help slow the spread of COVID-19 in Australia.

To protect others you must:

• practise good hygiene 
• practise social distancing
• follow the limits for public gatherings
• understand how to self-isolate if you need to

If you have a confirmed case, you must isolate yourself to stop the virus spreading to other people.

If you're concerned

You can call the National Coronavirus Helpline for information and advice about COVID-19.

National Coronavirus Helpline

Call this line if you are seeking information on coronavirus. The line operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

1800 020 080

View contact

Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National)

TIS National is for people who do not speak English and for agencies and businesses that need to communicate with their non-English speaking clients.

131 450

Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National)

PLease click on the link below for regular updates.

https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert

Active Ingredient Prescribing is part of a wider government initiative to ensure consistent and standardised medicines information, to support safe and appropriate use of medicines. Consumers’ ability to identify a medicine’s active ingredient is critical for medicine safety.

The goal of Active Ingredient Prescribing is to help people understand what medicines they are taking. Under new medicine regulations, doctors must include the active ingredient names when preparing prescriptions for Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and Repatriation PBS (RPBS) medicines. This will mean most medicines will be prescribed by their active ingredient, not the brand name.

For more info click here   https://www.pbs.gov.au/info/general/active-ingredient-prescribing
 

Speak to your GP for more info.

Benefits

It is voluntary and free to register in MyMedicare.

When you register in MyMedicare, it will notify your general practice that you have chosen them as your regular care team.  Additional funding will be available from the government to help them provide the care you need.

MyMedicare patients will have access to:

• greater continuity of care with your registered practice, improving health outcomes
• longer Medicare Benefit Scheme (MBS) funded telehealth consultations with your GP
• triple bulk billing incentive for longer MBS telehealth consultations for children under 16, pensioners, and concession card holders
• more regular visits from your GP and better care planning for people living in a residential aged care home

Further registration benefits for patients will continue to be added as part of our commitment to strengthening Medicare.

Eligibility

You’re eligible to register in MyMedicare if you have:

• a Medicare Card or Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) Veteran Card
• face-to-face visits recorded with the same practice, including either:
  • one face-to-face visit for practices in remote locations (MMM 6 and 7)
  • two face-to-face visits for practices in other locations in the previous 24 months.

People who are facing hardship will be exempt from all eligibility requirements. This includes people experiencing domestic and family violence and homelessness.

Parents/guardians and children can be registered at the same practice if one of them is eligible and registered. A parent/guardian must register a child under 14 years and provide consent on their behalf. Young people aged 14 to 17 years can register and provide consent without a parent/guardian.

How to register

You can register for MyMedicare from 1 October 2023 and select your preferred GP at your:

• accredited general practice
• Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service
• Aboriginal Medical Service
• nurse practitioner-led practice with an eligible GP provider
• other non-traditional practice (who meets the healthcare provider registration and eligibility criteria)

Your chosen practice must be registered in MyMedicare before you can start your own patient registration.

There are multiple ways you can register with your chosen practice in MyMedicare:

• Start the registration process in your Medicare Online Account or Express Plus Medicare Mobile app. Check that your practice is registered in MyMedicare before you start. Practice staff will then accept the registration in the MyMedicare system.
• Your practice may start the registration in MyMedicare or you can ask them to do this. This will trigger a registration in your Medicare Online Account or Express Plus Medicare Mobile app, which you can then complete.
• Fill out a registration form and provide it to your practice. By signing the form, you are giving consent to participate in MyMedicare. Practice staff will then complete the registration in the MyMedicare system.

As part of your MyMedicare registration, you can choose to provide additional information about yourself. This will help your practice, primary care team and the government improve the delivery of your health care. We will share this information with your MyMedicare practice.

The information you provide will help your practice and the government to plan and improve your health care services. You will still be able to register if you do not provide this information.

You will need to agree to the terms and conditions and read and understand the MyMedicare privacy notice to consent to register in MyMedicare

MyMedicare registration will not prevent you from accessing care from other practices and healthcare providers. The longer MBS telehealth items, the new aged care incentive, and from November 2024 Chronic Disease Management items will be linked to your registered practice.

CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW FOR MORE DETAILS

Information for MyMedicare patients | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care