About Surfcoast Medical Centre
Surfcoast Medical Centre is committed to providing our patients with a high standard of care for the benefit of each patient’s health and well-being.
In our long history of service to the community since the 1970s, we have maintained a stable group of General Practitioners. In 2022 we have a team of 11 General Practitioners, and this will continue to grow. Many of our doctors live locally and are active members of the community.
Our General Practitioners have developed relationships with a broad range of Specialists locally in the Surfcoast, Geelong and further afield in Melbourne and rural Victoria. This allows them to refer patients for specialised care where needed.
Surfcoast Medical Centre has been accredited by Australian General Practice Accreditation Limited (AGPAL), in recognition of having met the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Standards 5th Edition.
We participate in quality improvement activities and are committed to a culture of continual improvement.
We are committed to training the health professionals of the future and are a training practice for GP Registrars and students of medicine & nursing.
In February 2023, Surfcoast Medical Centre expanded and opened our specialised women’s health clinic, Women’s Health Torquay. The idea for Women’s Health Torquay was inspired by conversations with our patients. For years, women have been asking for better healthcare – a place where they feel welcomed, listened to and cared for. At Women’s Health Torquay, our purpose is to prioritise women’s health.
Visit our website for more information Women’s Clinic | Torquay – Women’s Health Torquay (womenshealthtorquay.au)
In Case You Have Any Questions Please Check Our Frequently Asked Questions Section Below
If would like your existing medical records transferred from another clinic, you will need to provide them with a written request. This can be done by either sending them a letter requesting that your records be forwarded to Surfcoast Medical Centre or our reception staff can provide you a form to sign and send to the previous Doctor.
Please note that some medical centres charge an administration fee for transferring records. We prefer to receive files in electronic format on CD or memory stick (in XML format).
| Consultation Type | Fees
Mon– Fri |
Fees
Sat am |
Fees
Conc. |
Medicare
Rebate |
| Standard Consultation | $90.00 | $95.00 | $78.00 | $42.85 |
| Long/Complex Consultation | $155.00 | $160.00 | $135.00 | $82.90 |
| Standard Telephone Consultation | $90.00 | $95.00 | $78.00 | $42.85 |
| Public Holiday – Standard Consultation | – | $120.00 | $55.80 | |
| Public Holiday – Long/Complex Consultation | – | – | $170.00 | $95.70 |
| Public Holiday – Extended Consultation | $220.00 | $134.20 |
Please note as of September 1st 2024 an increase will apply to all fees, this is in line CPI.
Surfcoast Medical Centre is not a bulk billing clinic and all consultations must be paid in full, on the day of the consultation.
Healthcare card holders and pensioners may be charged a reduced fee at the discretion of the treating doctor.
If you are experiencing severe financial difficulty, please discuss this with your treating doctor. Billing and fees remain at the discretion of each individual doctor.
As a small business payment on the day of consultation is both appreciated and expected. Fees can be paid by EFTPOS with most major credit cards and cash if needed. If you have registered your bank details with Medicare we can submit your rebate claim for you, and usually this is transferred immediately or within 24hrs.
Please present your current Medicare card and any concession card (Health Care, Commonwealth Seniors or Pension Card) at every appointment.
*Please note: Concessions do not apply on Saturday mornings and Public Holidays.
Cancellation Policy
We understand that unplanned issues can arise, and you may need to cancel an appointment. Should this occur, we respectfully ask that scheduled appointments be cancelled at least 2 hours in advance by calling 9123 8455
When a patient does not attend a scheduled appointment, other patients lose the opportunity to be seen.
A cancellation fee of $40.00 for a standard GP consultation (including telehealth consultations) or $75.00 for an extended consultation applies to non-attendances or late cancellations (less than 2 hours prior to the appointment). An invoice will be posted to you and this fee needs to be paid prior to booking your next appointment.
No part of this fee can be claimed back from Medicare.
Thank you for being a valued patient and for your understanding and co-operation as we implement this policy. This policy will enable us to open otherwise unused appointments to better serve the needs of all patients.
Doctors providing prescriptions, referrals to specialists or pathology tests are responsible ethically and legally to ensure that these are correct and warranted. Therefore, a consultation with a Doctor will be necessary in most instances. Please bring a list of prescriptions you require when you attend your appointment.
Please note: If you have completely run out of a vital medication, reception staff can book you in for a Quick Script appointment. This is a 5 minute phone consult at the cost of $45.00, with a Medicare rebate of $18.20. These appointments are for repeat scripts only with NO test results or referrals discussed.
Appointments with Specialists and some pathology tests that are not covered by Medicare may incur additional charges.
If your doctor sends you for any investigations, please make sure that you ring the practice within a few days of having the tests performed to receive your results.
Reception staff will be able to advise you if you need to follow up with your doctor.
Due to the privacy issues associated with emails, Surfcoast Medical Centre does not allow correspondence with patients or health providers via email and do not give out the practice email address.
Our practice is mindful that even if patients have provided electronic contact details, they may not be proficient in communicating via electronic means and patient consent needs to be obtained before engaging in electronic communication. Electronic communication includes email, facsimile and Short Message Service (SMS).
Communication with patients via electronic means is conducted with appropriate regard to privacy.
Our practice’s primary reason for communicating electronically to patients is to issue appointment reminders and we verify the correct contact details of the patient at the time of the appointment being made.
Whilst not encouraged, our practice allows patients an opportunity to obtain advice or information related to their care by electronic means, but only where the general practitioner determines that a face-to-face consultation is unnecessary and that communication by electronic means is suitable. Our practice will only provide information that is of a general, non-urgent nature and will not initiate electronic communication (other than SMS appointment reminders) with patients.
At Surfcoast Medical Centre we value your opinion and welcome your feedback – be it positive or otherwise. If you have an issue with the service that we have provided, we would like to work with you to resolve it. Please ask to speak to our Practice Manager or put your concerns in writing to admin@surfcoastmedical.com.au.
If you feel that we were unable to resolve your concern, you may contact the Health Complaints Commissioner on 1800 582 113 between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday or fill in an online form at www.hcc.vic.gov.au
Surfcoast Medical Centre’s principal concern is and always will be the health of patients who visit our practice. A high level of trust and confidentiality is required to ensure the confidence of the patients we serve.
We recognise that the information we collect is often of a highly sensitive nature and as an organisation, we have adopted privacy compliance standards to ensure that patient’s personal information is protected.
Patients can be assured that:
- your privacy will be protected when visiting the Medical Centre
- we will make every effort to ensure that the information collected and retained in our records about you is correct and up-to-date, and
that you can access your information for review - 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
- 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 (e.g. staff training)
- your personal information is stored electronically by our practice
- incoming information from other providers is imported or scanned into your electronic file and any paper copies are securely destroyed
- your personal information is stored electronically by our practice. Incoming information from other providers is imported or scanned into your electronic file and any paper copies are securely destroyed
- our practice stores all personal information securely. All doctors, nurses and administration staff sign confidentiality agreements upon engagement and our computer system is protected by firewalls, anti-virus/spam filters and is password protected on several levels.
Privacy and our website
www.surfcoastmedicalcentre.com.au is an online information website, consisting of information services, content, links and other internet resources.
When you visit our website, our Internet Service Provider/Hosting Provider will record your server address, domain name, the date and time of your visit to our site, the pages viewed and the information downloaded. The information is used for statistical and web site development purposes only.
The site uses cookies as a part of our interaction with your browser. A cookie is a small amount of information stored on your computer by our website. You can delete cookies from your hard drive at any time and further information on the use of cookies can be found at www.cookiecentral.com/faq
The Personal Information we collect on you
The type of personal information that we collect from you will depend on how you use our website. You can be certain that the information we receive about you will be treated as strictly confidential.
Information is collected to help us:
- fulfil your request
- understand the number of hits the website receives
- keep track of the domains from which the site is accessed
- determine what our users are interested in
- ensure that as far a practical, our website and applications are compatible with the browsers and operating systems used by most of our users
- support strategic development
- if you believe that any information that we hold about you is inaccurate or out of date, please contact us.
The circumstances under which we disclose information about you
It is our policy not to sell or pass on any personal information that you may have provided to us unless we have your express consent to do so. An exception to this is where Surfcoast Medical Centre may be required by law to disclose certain information. We will preserve the contact of any email or secure message that you send us if we believe that we have a legal requirement to do so.
Linking to and from this site
The existence of external links on our website shall not be construed as Surfcoast Medical Centre’s endorsement, sponsorship, approval of, or affiliation with, another person unless the party providing the relevant link is authorised in writing to do so. If you access this site via an external link, you do so at your own risk. While information and third party information contained on this sire has been presented with all due care, Surfcoast Medical Centre does not warrant or represent that the information or third party information will remain unchanged after the date of publication and is free from errors or omissions. It is your responsibility to make your own investigations, decisions and enquiries about the information retrieved from other internet sites.
Appointment bookings online
Surfcoast Medical Centre has an agreement with an external provider, HotDoc Online Pty Ltd. The patient application does not have direct contact to Surfcoast Medical Centre and only connects to HotDoc’s cloud servers. All communication between the HotDoc cloud server and Surfcoast Medical Centre is encrypted using 128bit SSL encryption. HotDoc only handles data relating to the patient appointment and no other sensitive patient records are used or stored on the HotDoc system. HotDoc T&Cs provides the Terms of Service for the HotDoc application
Changes to this statement
From time to time, we may make changes to our Privacy Policy. This may be in relation to changes in the law, best practice or changes in our services. These changes will be reflected in this statement, so you should check here from time to time.
To view our full privacy policy, please click here
Please print, complete and return to the practice.
If you are planning to book a Covid-19 vaccine, this form will need to be completed and returned prior to making an appointment.
Our Clinic
Currently located at 100 Surfcoast Highway in Torquay, Surfcoast Medical Centre is co located in a building with Australian Clinical Labs (Pathology), Barwon Medical Imaging (X-Ray) and Torquay Community Health Services. Whilst we are located in the same building as these other services, we are a stand alone private medical practice. Surfcoast Pharmacy is also conveniently located next door to us.
Upon entering our clinic, you are greeted by our outstanding reception team. We value to the depth of experience our reception team has to offer and they pride themselves in providing high quality patient services.
We have nine consulting rooms and a very well equipped treatment room. Our doctors and nurses work collaboratively, all with excellent skill sets to address a broad range of medical issues.
