In a bid to help contain the rapid spread of coronavirus, Health Matters Karalee and Fernvale are both able to provide telephone or video consultations with ALL patients effective Monday 30^th March 2020.  Help manage your health care by using our telehealth system that is aimed at getting more people treated without having to attend our medical practice.

There are two options available:

• Telephone Consultation;
• Video Consultation;

To join the desired “waiting room’ click on the following link

Karalee - https://vcc.healthdirect.org.au/t/hmk/join

Fernvale - https://vcc.healthdirect.org.au/t/hmf/join

Once you have joined the waiting room, the doctor will then pick up your call and your consultation will take place.

PLEASE NOTE: You are required to have an appointment booked in at the practice. Please do not join the waiting room without contacting the practice either on-line or calling our practice.  It is important that you book an appointment first, as unfortunately your call will not be answered.

Health Matters Karalee and Health Matters Fernvale both provide a comprehensive primary care medical service to the families and visitors in their local communities. We keep up to date with medical innovations, and aim to offer a personal and caring service in a friendly relaxed atmosphere. NEW PATIENTS ARE WELCOME!

New Patients  

All new patients will be asked to complete a New Patient Form and Privacy Consent Form.  This can be completed on arrival for your appointment, or via the AMS link in the text msg that you may receive upon booking a new patient appointment.  Please bring with you your Medicare Card, and any current health care cards or pension cards you may have. Full Privacy Policy is also available for you to read upon request.

It is important that you keep us up to date with any changes in contact information, including phone numbers, address changes and who you would like us to contact in an emergency. This is especially important, so we can get hold of you regarding test results in a timely manner.

Karalee Hours
Monday – 7am to 7pm
Tuesday – 7am to 7pm
Wednesday – 7am to 7pm
Thursday – 7am to 7pm
Friday – 7am to 6pm
Saturday – 8am to 1pm
Public Holidays – Closed

Fernvale Hours
Monday – 7am to 7pm
Tuesday – 7am to 7pm
Wednesday – 7am to 7pm
Thursday– 7am to 7pm
Friday – 7am to 6pm
Saturday – 8am to 1pm
Public Holidays – Closed

Health Matters Karalee is a mixed billing practice.

Bulk Billing is available Monday – Friday to:
Health Care Card Holders
All Pensioners including DVA Patients
Children under 16 years
Chronic Disease Management Plans including General Practice and Team Care arrangements.

All other consultations including phone consultations are privately billed.  Our reception staff are happy to assist you with any information you require about fees. 

After payment for your consultation, we can send your Medicare claim through to Medicare if you have registered your bank details with them, or we can process your Medicare rebate immediately back into a Savings or Chq account eftpos card via Medicare Easyclaim. Rebates should come back into your bank account with 1-2 business days. Please present your valid Medicare card/concession card/DVA card when you come for an appointment.

We accept cash, EFTPOS and credit cards.

All Saturday consultations are private billing. Discounted fees are available to eligible patients; those with a current Pension Concession Card, Health Care Card, Commonwealth Seniors Health card.

We are happy to provide a written estimate of cost for skin procedures. Just ask your doctor or one of our receptionists if you need more information.

Appointment Cancellation / Non-Attendance 

We understand that unplanned issues can arise and you may need to cancel an appointment. If that happens, we respectfully ask for scheduled appointments to be cancelled with 3 hours’ notice.  Our General Practitioners want to be available for your needs and the needs of all of our patients. When a patient does not show for a scheduled appointment, another patient loses an opportunity to be seen.

We are happy to send you an SMS reminder the day before your appointment. Please update your mobile details with the receptionist.  If you reply by SMS please DO NOT free text, simply reply by following the prompts to ensure effective delivery of your cancellation request.

If 2 non-attendance occur this will result in a letter being sent to remind you of our Did Not Attend policy. If any further missed appointments occur without notice, it is practice policy that a private invoice for $50.00 Non-Attendance fee will be issued. The charge does not attract a Medicare rebate, so is payable in full by the patient. Further routine appointments will be unable to be made until this invoice is paid in full.

Repeat scripts, without an appointment, may only be provided if you have seen your Doctor in the last 3 months for the related condition. 48 hours’ notice needs to be given and will incur a $17 fee.

Health Matters Fernvale is a mixed billing practice.

Bulk Billing is available to:
Health Care Card Holders
All Pensioners including DVA Patients
Children under 16 years
Chronic Disease Management Plans including General Practice and Team Care arrangements.

Our reception staff are happy to assist you with any information you require about fees. We can send your Medicare claim off for you when you register your bank details with Medicare. Rebates should come back into your bank account, immediately. Please present your valid Medicare card/concession card/DVA card when you come for an appointment.

We accept cash, EFTPOS and credit cards.

We are happy to provide a written estimate of cost for skin procedures. Just ask your doctor or one of our receptionists if you need more information.

Appointment Cancellation / Non-Attendance

We understand that unplanned issues can arise and you may need to cancel an appointment. If that happens, we respectfully ask for scheduled appointments to be cancelled with 3 hours’ notice.  Our General Practitioners want to be available for your needs and the needs of all of our patients. When a patient does not show for a scheduled appointment, another patient loses an opportunity to be seen.

We are happy to send you an SMS reminder the day before your appointment. Please update your mobile details with the receptionist.  If you reply by SMS please DO NOT free text, simply reply by following the prompts to ensure effective delivery of your cancellation request.

If 2 or more appointments are missed, it is practice policy that a private invoice of $30.00 will be issued. The charge does not attract a Medicare rebate, so is payable in full by the patient. Further routine appointments will be unable to be made until this invoice is paid in full.

Repeat scripts, without an appointment, may only be provided if you have seen your Doctor in the last 3 months for the related condition. 48 hours’ notice needs to be given and will incur a $17 fee.

For all other urgent after-hours care required outside of our opening hours, contact either National Home Dr Service on 13 SICK ( 137425) OR Hello Home Doctor Service on 134100 to arrange an after-hours visit.  Please be aware that location services do apply.  Phone consultations can be offered if location cannot be met, and if appropriate for patient care.  Services will advise of this upon booking.

All patients can also attend the Ipswich Hospital Accident and Emergency Department. Or alternatively, you can attend St. Andrew’s Ipswich Private Hospital Emergency Department – however fees do apply for this service as it is a private hospital – for fees please call 3816 9999.

Please notify us if you are unable to attend an appointment so that another patient may be offered the time to see a doctor.

Standard appointments are booked for 15 minutes. Longer appointments are available and are necessary if you have several problems to discuss with your doctor. Please let our receptionists know if you require a long appointment at the time of booking. Longer appointments are also needed for counselling, some procedures, full medical check ups, insurance medicals and review of complex conditions.

Where you book an appointment that is not long enough to deal with complex or multiple problems, you may be asked to return for another appointment so your doctor can address each problem thoroughly . Urgent clinical problems will be dealt with on the day, and can sometimes take a bit longer than expected. As urgent problems need to be fitted in, there can be delays when a doctor must deal with an urgent medical problem ahead of your appointment and we apologise for any inconvenience incurred. We ask for your patience and understanding when this occurs, as it is often out of our control.

Please notify us if you need to change or cancel your appointment, so we may offer the appointment to another patient. We offer SMS reminders for your appointments, so if you would like to receive these please make sure you let us know your current mobile number. Likewise you can opt out of receiving SMS reminders at any time by telling us that you no longer wish to receive them.

Urgent calls will be put through to a nurse or your Doctor. For routine calls please leave a message with our friendly reception staff who will forward it to your Doctor.

We ask that you phone the practice on 38123133 ( Karalee) or 54267788 ( Fernvale) to follow up your test results and to make a follow up appointment, if required. If your doctor told you that the test was urgent, please ring within 24 hours of having the test, or at the time the doctor told you to make contact. Otherwise please call in the time frame recommended by your doctor, or otherwise in about one week. It is always important that you follow up your test results. If patients have consented to receive SMS correspondence, they will receive a text message once the Doctor has checked all results received, which will also advise if a follow up appointment is required.

Please note that it is not our policy to bulk bill appointments for review of test results, as these appointments are often when your doctor has to decide ongoing management of a condition or make referrals for further tests or specialist review.

We also offer reminders to let you know about preventative health activities that are recommended for you, for example PAP smear tests, blood pressure checks,or a colonoscopy. Our new patient form asks for your consent to participate in this system. If you no longer wish to receive reminders from us, just let us know by speaking to one of our team, and we will remove you from the system. We send reminders via SMS where you consent to receive SMS from us, or by letter if you prefer this option. SMS will require you to enter some details such as your date of birth, prior to opening the full SMS message. This is to protect your privacy.

All doctors at the practice use computerised Medical Records to record information, order tests, provide prescriptions and file Specialists reports. Our computers are password protected, and backed up daily. All information recorded at our practice is confidential. We follow the Australian Federal Privacy Laws and Standards for the private health sector. A Practice Privacy Policy summary is available at reception, or on request. Copies of our full Practice Privacy Policy can be provided upon request.

We welcome your feedback and suggestions. Please talk to our staff, your GP or the Practice Manager with any feedback that you wish to provide. If you wish to take the matter further you can contact the Health Ombudsman.

Contact details
P: 133 OHO (133 646)
E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Postal Address:
PO Box 13281 George Street
Brisbane Qld 4003
Website: www.oho.qld.gov.au

Please find below a series of links to relevant health organisations both local and national:

• Cancer Council Australia
• Quitline
• Heart Foundation
• Diabetes Australia
• Better Health Channel
• myDr
• ABC Health Matters