Updated 16 August 2009

Appointments

New patient appointments normally consist of 15 minutes filling out a comprehensive medical questionnaire followed by a 1 hour appointment.

Information requested by us

We obtain contact information when you make an appointment, in case we need to contact you about an appointment or obtain important information from you beforehand. We also ask you why you are being referred to ensure that the referral is appropriate, and in case additional information is required by us before you come. This is particularly important with regard to anaesthetic or drug allergy, where we may need to buy in special medications for testing before you come. Under some circumstances, we will ask that your referring doctor provide a detailed referral to us before allocating an appointment. If you have been seen several years ago and wish to return, we will ask about reasons for return and whether there are new or old problems only to review, in order to allocate an appropriate amount of time for that appointment.

Waiting list

This currently averages 3 months, with urgent cases given priority. If your doctor believes your case to be urgent, they can telephone Dr Mullins for initial advice and to be placed on a cancellation list.

Referrals

-You need to bring your referral with you. This is a legal requirement to allow you to claim a rebate from Medicare.

-Referrals are valid for 12 months if obtained from a GP or 3 months if written by a specialist.

-If you have been seen in the past and wish to be seen again, you may need a new referral. Check when booking in.

What to bring

- Your referral

1. -Any recent chest or sinus x-rays
   

2. -If you are concerned about rashes, taking and bringing photographs is a sensible option,
   

Eating in the rooms and bringing children

We see lots of children with food allergy and so we do not allow eating in the rooms. Please feed your child before they come. We rarely run late. It is also wise to only bring the child who is the patient, as it will be harder for you to concentrate having to care for two children during the consultation.

Important instructions

We ask that patients attending for new appointments stop antihistamines (eg. Aerius, Claratyne, Demazin, Dimetabs, Fexotabs, Lorastyne, Telfast, Xergic) for 5 days before and avoid the use of sunscreens and moisturizers on their arms below the elbows only for 3 days. This is because both can interfere with the results of allergy testing. There is no need to stop any other medicines or asthma or nose puffers.

Appointment confirmation

We ask that all patients confirm their appointment with us. If we are unable to confirm an appointment, and are unable to contact you, we will normally cancel that appointment and give it to another patient on our waiting list.

Doctor’s reports

We attempt to do all testing required at the time of the first visit. Letters to referring doctors are normally dispatched within 24 hours.

Payment options

Payment may be made by cash, cheques, EFTOS and credit cards (Visa, American Express only).

Medicare rebates

The location of Medicare offices in Canberra may be found at the following link.