Our mission is to provide the highest standard of patient care whilst incorporating a holistic approach toward diagnosis and management of illness.

We are committed to promoting health, wellbeing and disease prevention to all patients. We do not discriminate in the provision of excellent care and aim to treat all patients with dignity and respect.

Winston Glades Family Practice has been awarded accreditation by Australian General Practice Accreditation (AGPAL).

What benefits does accreditation have for you and your family:

• Winston Glades Family Practice is committed for highest standard of care according to the Australian General Practice Accreditation (AGPAL)
• Your privacy is always protected
• Your health records will always be maintained appropriately by clinical team members
• The practice team undergo ongoing education and training to stay informed about current quality health care
• Your practice is committed to ensuring a safe environment for you.
• The practice is understanding and responsive to cultural needs.

Winston Glades Family Practice runs an appointment system; however, we do keep openings for emergencies. You can make an appointment with your doctor by phoning the surgery or through our website www.wgfp.com.au. Urgent medical problems will be dealt with promptly. Appointments are made at 10 – 20 minute intervals. When making your appointment please advise staff if you need extra time.

Nobody likes to be kept waiting and we are all aware of this and try to adhere to appointment schedules. However, the unpredictable nature of medical practice means that doctors sometimes run behind time. This is mostly due to a patient requiring urgent medical attention. We sincerely regret any inconvenience caused to patients when we fall behind with our appointment schedule.

We understand that unplanned issues can come up and you may need to cancel an appointment. If that happens, we respectfully ask for scheduled appointments to be cancelled at least 2 hours in advanced.

Our doctors and allied health professionals want to be available for your needs and the needs of all our patients. When a patient does not show for a scheduled appointment, another patient loses an opportunity to be seen.

We Require 2 hrs notice prior to your scheduled arrival. Otherwise you will be charged a cancellation fee of $50.00.

If you are too sick and no other alternatives to attend the surgery and you are a regular patient, a home visit can be arranged by notifying our reception staff depending on the availability of our doctors. Please inform staff at the surgery before 8.00am if possible.

Should you require medical attention after our operating hours please telephone

Hello Home Doctors on 134 100

who are a fully accredited services.

Doctors in this practice may be contacted by phone during surgery hours. A message will be taken if the doctor is with another patient and your call will be returned when the doctor is available.

In order to monitor your health and fulfil our ethical and legal responsibilities, we require that you attend your doctor for a consultation if you require further prescriptions and referrals.

If your doctor is not available, another doctor in the practice can attend to your request.

This practice is designed for wheelchair access. We have a wheelchair available if required. Should you have special needs please discuss them with your doctor.

We Mixed Bill with a gap fee of $40.00 Monday to Friday, 6.30 am to 5.00 pm. 

During this time, Bulk Billing is still available to

• Pension/Healthcare Card holders Children16 years and under 
• Eligible DVA Card holders (White – according to the condition)
• Recalls – test we performed after the initial consultation
• Flu and Covid Vaccination Clinics
• GPMP/TCA 
• Health Assessments (45 – 49 yrs Health Assessments/ 75 years and over) 

 We Private Bill After 5.00 pm on weekdays and weekends with a gap fee of $40.00. Medicare rebates will still apply. (During this time Bulk Billing is not available)

There will be a different gap fee for some of the procedures such as skin excisions, iorn infusions, mirena insertions. This will allow us to maintain a high level of care for our patients. 

Workplace and legal related medical issues are billed to relevant insurers, employers or solicitors.

Our reception staff can advise you of cost not covered by Medicare (Private medicals/ Medical Reports)

WINSTON GLADES FAMILY PRACTICE FEE POLICY

WHAT IS BULK-BILLING?

Medicare is a public health insurance scheme. It provides rebates (support payments) to you when you access eligible health services, such as visiting your GP. These payments are yours, not your GP’s. In most cases, the rebate you receive does not cover the total cost of the health service provided. ‘Bulk billing’ is when a doctor bills Medicare directly for the services provided to you, so you have no out-of-pocket expenses. If you are bulk billed, your doctor has accepted the rebate that Medicare pays for that particular service

WHY DO WE CHARGE A FEE?

The rebate for GP consultations is less than 50% of the fee that has been recommended by our nation’s medical associations. Simply put, the amount that Medicare pays for each appointment no longer covers the cost of running a medical practice.

Our clinic has been providing quality health care to the Winston Glades Family Practice community for the last 9 years. There have been many challenges along the way, but none as difficult as the lack of funding for general practice perpetuated by successive governments.

For the benefit of our patients, our clinic has been absorbing this loss for many years, but this is no longer sustainable for the practice. This is now the case for many GP clinics across Australia.

We hope that in future Medicare will provide a higher rebate to our patients so that accessing healthcare will have a lower out-of-pocket cost. 

If you have concerns about the rising out-of-pocket cost for healthcare, please notify your local state and federal members.

We have in place a computerised recall and reminder system. You will be reminded to attend the surgery for an appointment if your doctor feels that it is appropriate.

We use the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National). This service allows
us to provide language support for non-English speaking patients, ensuring clear
communication and a better overall experience. If you require assistance in a
language other than English, please feel free to inform us prior to your appointment.

Please do not hesitate to ask our reception team to order a taxi to and/or from the surgery should you require one. We also have a large car park which incorporates an ambulance bay & patient parking.

In accord with the Privacy Act (1988) all information collected in this practice is treated as “sensitive information”. To protect your privacy, this practice operates strictly in accordance with the Act.

We use this information you provide to manage your personal health care. We generally disclose selected information to various other health services involved in supporting your health care management (e.g. pathology, x-ray).

If you have any questions about how we handle your personal health information or need to arrange access to your records, please ask the Practice Manager or your doctor, as appropriate.

Our goal is to provide a quality, caring, personalised and family oriented service. Therefore, if you have any concerns or suggestions please phone, write or email our Practice Manager wgpracticemanager@wgfp.com.au or your doctor.

We genuinely wish to hear from you. From time to time this practice invites patients to complete questionnaires on their views of the practice and how it could be improved. These surveys are completely confidential and help us improve our services.

We believe that problems are best dealt with through the practice. Indeed, we want to know if you are concerned about any aspect of our service.

However, if you prefer to contact the Office of the Health Ombudsman for handling complaints, the address is PO Box 13281, George Street, Brisbane, Qld 4003 and the contact number is 133 646 (133 OHO).