About Us

The allotted time is 15 minutes.  If you think you will require a longer time, please let the receptionist know when making your appointment. Patients who are new to the practice, or who have more than one problem to discuss, may need a long appointment. Other consultations which require longer appointments:

• Insurance medical examinations
• Driver’s license medical examinations
• Annual general examinations
• Minor surgical procedures

Please ask our receptionists if you are unsure about the length of consultation you may need. If you are unable to keep your appointment please remember to ring and cancel it. A fee may be charged to patients who forget to cancel appointments. 

All new patients are required to complete a new patient registration form at the time of their first appointment. We recommend that you arrive 10 mins earlier to complete this form. Alternatively download the form here and bring it in with you already completed SMC Patient Registration

We ask you to limit requests for home visits to urgent matters when you are really unable to attend the surgery.  It is possible that we may not have a doctor free to do a home visit, in which case the option would be to either call 000 or try to find someone who may be able to drive you in to the surgery.

Regular visits are scheduled for elderly, disabled and nursing home patients. A number of our GPs regularly visit all the nursing homes in the district.

A co-operative after hours’ service is run by the local doctors.  By ringing 4861 6433 you will be put in contact with the doctor on call.  Do not hesitate to ring after hours if you feel that you have an emergency.  We also suggest you ring the doctor on call before attending casualty.  In addition, the After Hours Clinic operates at the St Jude Specialist Centre, 21 St Jude Street Bowral, on Saturdays (3 pm – 5 pm) and Sundays/Public Holidays (10 am – 12 noon and 3 pm – 5 pm).

Telephone calls to the doctors themselves do interrupt consultations and cause delays.  In most cases our receptionists will be able to assist you with your enquiry or will take a message for the doctor and seek their instructions.  Your call will always be put through to the GP in an emergency.

Your doctor may consider a consultation more appropriate than a telephone call, in which case either telehealth or face to face appointment will be arranged for you.

In the case of an emergency please contact your nearest hospital or call 000.

Test results are received by the surgery electronically and reviewed by a Doctor at regular intervals throughout the day. Doctors will ask reception staff to telephone any patients who need to make an appointment for review. At the end of each day reception staff ensure that all results requiring action have been attended to and the patient contacted if necessary. Patients are welcome to telephone and enquire about the Doctor’s decision regarding their results.

In selected cases, and at the doctor’s discretion, prescriptions for continuing medications and repeat referrals will be written without a consultation.  This can be requested via HOT DOCS - Link is available on home page.

We require several days notice and there is a charge for this service. You will also need to have seen the doctor within the last 6 months. It must be emphasised that in many cases (such as the ‘Pill’ and blood pressure medications) the number of repeats is chosen to coincide with the need for regular medical follow up.

This practice is a Teaching Practice of the University of Wollongong and  regularly has university medical students doing community medicine attachments in their final year of training. We will inform you if your doctor has a student with him or her. Please advise us if you prefer to consult with your doctor alone. 

Several doctors at SMC have commenced specialist general practitioner training, these doctors are known as GP Registrars and are generally with the practice for 6 or 12 months. We feel this is a critical part of maintaining and improving the quality of family doctors in Australia, particularly in rural areas. 

All new patients to the practice are required to complete a new patient form. if you would like to print and complete the form prior to arriving to your first appointment please click on the link below.

New Patient Form

In general, we are not a bulk billing practice although we do bulk bill children under the age of 16.  Certain types of visits are exceptions to this rule, such as diabetic reviews, some mental health plans, etc.  If you feel you have a valid reason to be bulk billed, please ask the doctor at the time of your visit, this decision cannot be made by reception staff.

We have a reduced rate for holders of a commonwealth concession card and full time students.  A list of fees for consultations and commonly performed procedures is prominently displayed at the front desk.  Please ask your doctor if you have any queries as they have billing discretion.  

We require payment at time of consultation and accept cash,  Visa, Mastercard or EFTPOS (debit cards).  We are electronically linked to Medicare and are usually able to process your Medicare rebate instantly through EFTPOS (debit cards). 

Standard Consultation:  

$87.90 Non-concession (Patient Gap: $46.50)              $75.25 Concession (Patient Gap: $33.85)

The provision of quality health care requires a doctor patient relationship of trust and confidentiality. Your medical record is a confidential document.  It is the policy of this practice to maintain the security of personal health information at all times and to ensure this information is only available to authorised members of staff.  A copy of our privacy policy is on display at reception.

The safety of our patients during their visits to our practice is important to us. We follow strict infection control guidelines, as recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Council.

All items used during your visit are either fully disposable or are sterilized by autoclave under steam pressure.

These precautions, and the disposal of clinical waste, are costly in terms of materials, labour and maintenance. They are part of your medical care, and are reflected in our consultation fees.

We are always trying to improve the standard of professional service to our patients. You can help us do this by telling us of any suggestions you may have. Should you have any complaints, we would like to know of them immediately so that appropriate steps can be taken to remedy the situation and ensure that there is no repetition.

Who can you complain to?

1. Your doctor
2. Our Practice Manager
3. Health Care Complaints Commission – Locked Bag 18 Strawberry Hills NSW 2012 (Freecall 1800 043 159)

THIS MEDICAL PRACTICE COMPLIES WITH PRIVACY REGULATIONS INTRODUCED IN DECEMBER 2001 REGARDING THE HANDLING OF PERSONAL INFORMATION IN MEDICAL RECORDS.

Medical files are handled with the utmost respect for a Patient’s privacy. Ordinarily we will not release the contents of a Patient File without their consent. However, there may be occasions where we will be required to release details irrespective of whether consent to the disclosure of information is given. This will occur where the law requires disclosure, such as pursuant to a subpoena.

A Patient has rights of access to any information concerning them.

As part of our commitment to preserving confidentiality of medical records we ensure strict secure storage policies are observed in this practice. Electronic records are accessible only by staff of this practice and are protected by a security password. Each member of staff is well versed in the principles and importance of Doctor-Patient confidentiality.

Our fully equipped treatment rooms are staffed with Registered Nurses for minor procedures and emergencies.  

Our nurses also perform:

• Over 75yr health checks
• Audiograms
• Spirometry
• ECG
• Over 45yr health checks
• Diabetic reviews
• INR's
• Cervical Screening
• Propulse Ear Wash