Our Policies
Anti-Discrimination Policy
Discrimination based on protected attributes such as sex, race, disability or age is prohibited under discrimination law. This includes treating a person unfairly, as well as any form of harassment or bullying. The law also has specific provisions for sexual harassment, racial hatred, and disability harassment. Southern Doctors Clinic upholds this law by not discriminating against individuals based on a range of protected attributes, including race, family status, sexual orientation, age, gender, physical features, political opinions, religious beliefs, breastfeeding, impairment, pregnancy, criminal record, union membership, and personal association with individuals possessing any of the above characteristics.
All doctors and staff at Southern Doctors Clinic are expected to treat patients with respect, courtesy, and understanding at all times. No new or existing patient will be refused access to medical care from a doctor based on their sex, age, religion, ethnicity, sexual preference, or medical condition.
The clinic has a zero-tolerance policy towards discriminatory behaviour and will take disciplinary action against any such behaviour.
Communications Policy
Our practice endeavours to provide patients with access to timely advice or information regarding their clinical care. This communication may occur through the following channels:
Face-to-face (in person)
This can be via consultation with your GP or allied health professional, interactions with the practice nurse, or by communication to admin staff members i.e. our receptionists or Practice Manager.
Telephone
Patients can phone the practice on (02) 97895955 between the hours of 9am – 5pm, Monday through Friday and speak to one of our receptionists. During this first point of contact, receptionists will triage your call in to ensure that any urgent matters are dealt with appropriately and in a timely manner. Your call may be transferred to the practice nurse to determine the urgency and most appropriate cause of action for your concern.
Phone calls requested to speak to the GP without an appointment will normally not be put through at the time of call. This is to minimise interruptions to consultations that might be taking place at the time of your call. Depending on the circumstance, a receptionist will book an appointment for you to speak to your doctor via Telehealth, or in certain cases, send the doctor a message explaining the reason for your call. Doctors will only take phone calls if time permits during their schedule.
Facsimile (fax)
Fax is generally used for clinical correspondence only. All clinical correspondence received via fax is imported into the associated patient’s file. These are then reviewed by the addressee doctor and managed as appropriate. Any urgent faxes that are received are handed to the doctor immediately. If the doctor is away, they are immediately reviewed by an available GP.
All non-patient-related faxes received are passed on to a relevant team member.
Email is not a secure communication platform and therefore, Southern Doctors Clinic does not send any clinical and confidential information via email without patient consent. Whilst we attempt to keep your information secure, patients must be aware of the risks associated with email communication. Information could potentially be compromised and accessed by someone other than the intended recipient.
As email is not a secure communication platform, patients must be aware of the risks associated with email communication. Although we attempt to keep private and confidential information secure, information sent via email may be compromised and accessed by someone who is not the intended recipient. Due to this, we will not send any personal information via email without patient consent. Patients must also be aware that any information they send to Southern Doctors Clinic via email is not secure. Patients who communicate through email do so at their own risk.
We intend to respond to email within 2 business days. Our emails are checked regularly but they are not consistently monitored. We suggest that any urgent requests are not sent via email but rather discussed with a receptionist via telephone.
SMS
SMS messages are used at our clinic for the following reasons:
Appointment reminders: Our online appointment system, HotDoc, will send an appointment reminder to patients with a pre-existing appointment the day before their appointment.
Reminders: You may receive reminders for clinical issues that your doctor would like you to follow up on. These may include matters such as cervical screening, care plans, blood tests, and immunisations.
Recalls: You may receive an SMS asking you to book a follow-up appointment with your doctor regarding recent test results. Privacy Act 1988, and does not contain any sensitive or confidential patient information.
If you wish to opt out of SMS communication, please contact our reception staff for assistance.
Post
Letters are used for patients who do not use, or who decide to opt out of electronic communications. In these circumstances, reminders and recalls are sent by post to the patient’s residential or postal address.
Incoming mail is received daily. Letters that are patient-related are scanned and imported into the patient’s file. These letters are then reviewed by the doctor and actioned as appropriate. All non-patient letters are forwarded to the appropriate team member.
Website
The practice’s website is regularly updated with new information relating to current events and changes at the practice. You can find information on opening hours, policies, and services, and book an appointment through our website.
Privacy Policy
INTRODUCTION
This privacy policy is to provide information to you, the patient, on how your personal information (which includes your health information) is collected and used within this clinic, and the circumstances in which it may be shared with third parties.
WHY AND WHEN YOUR CONSENT IS NECESSARY
When you register as a patient of this clinic, you provide consent for GPs and clinic 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 your information is needed for anything else, additional consent will be sought from you to do this.
WHY DOES SDC COLLECT, USE, HOLD AND SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?
This clinic will need to collect your personal information to provide healthcare services to you. The main purpose for collecting, using, holding, and sharing your personal information is to manage your health. It is also used for directly related business activities, such as financial claims and payments, clinic audits and accreditation, and business processes (e.g. staff training).
WHAT PERSONAL INFORMATION DOES SDC COLLECT?
The information collected about you includes your:
names, date of birth, addresses, contact details.
medical information including medical history, medications, allergies, adverse events, immunisations, social history, family history and risk factors.
Medicare number (where available) for identification and claiming purposes.
healthcare identifiers
DEALING WITH SDC ANONYMOUSLY
You have the right to deal with this clinic anonymously or under a pseudonym unless it is impracticable for SDC to do so or unless it is required or authorised by law to only deal with identified individuals.
HOW DOES SDC COLLECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?
This clinic may collect your personal information in several different ways.
When you make your first appointment clinic staff will collect your personal and demographic information via your registration.
During the course of providing medical services, this clinic may collect further personal information through My Health Record e.g. via Shared Health Summaries and Event Summaries.
SDC may also collect your personal information when you visit the website, make an online appointment, or communicate with the clinic by telephone, email, SMS, or social media.
In some circumstances personal information may also be collected from other sources. Often this is because it is not practical or reasonable to collect it from you directly. This may include information from:
your guardian or responsible person
other involved healthcare providers, such as specialists, allied health professionals, hospitals, community health services and pathology and diagnostic imaging services
your health fund, Medicare, or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (as necessary).
WHEN, WHY AND WITH WHOM DOES SDC SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
We sometimes share your personal information:
with third parties who work with this clinic for business purposes, such as accreditation agencies or information technology providers – these third parties are required to comply with APPs and this policy.
with other healthcare providers.
when it is required or authorised by law (e.g. court subpoenas).
when it is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to a patient’s life, health or safety or public health or safety, or it is impractical to obtain the patient’s consent.
to assist in locating a missing person.
to establish, exercise or defend an equitable claim.
for the purpose of a confidential dispute resolution process.
when there is a statutory requirement to share certain personal information (e.g. some diseases require mandatory notification).
during the course of providing medical services, through My Health Record (e.g. via Shared Health Summary, Event Summary).
Only people who need to access your information will be able to do so. Other than in the course of providing medical services or as otherwise described in this policy, this clinic will not share personal information with any third party without your consent.
SDC will not share your personal information with anyone outside Australia (unless under exceptional circumstances that are permitted by law) without your consent.
Your personal information will not be used for marketing any goods or services directly to you without your express consent. If you do consent, you may opt out of direct marketing at any time by notifying this clinic in writing.
SDC may use your personal information to improve the quality of the services offered to patients through research and analysis of patient data.
This clinic may provide de-identified data to other organisations to improve population health outcomes. The information is secure, patients cannot be identified, and the information is stored within Australia. You can let reception staff know if you do not want your information included.
HOW DOES SDC STORE AND PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?
Your personal information may be stored at this clinic in various forms.
as paper records
as electronic records
as visual – x-rays, CT scans, videos, and photos
as audio recordings.
This clinic stores all personal information securely. Personal information that we hold is protected by securing our premises, placing passwords, and varying access levels on databases to limit access and protect electronic information from unauthorised interference, access, modification, and disclosure.
SDC will:
provide a copy of this policy upon request.
ensure staff comply with the APP and deal appropriately with inquiries or concerns.
take such steps as are reasonable in the circumstances to implement practices, procedures, and systems to ensure compliance with the APP and deal with inquiries or complaints.
collect personal information for the primary purpose of managing a patient’s healthcare and for financial claims and payments.
SDC staff will:
take reasonable steps to ensure patients understand:
what information has been and is being collected.
why the information is being collected, and whether this is due to a legal requirement.
how the information will be used or disclosed.
why and when their consent is necessary.
this clinic’s procedures for access and correction of information, and responding to complaints of information breaches, including by providing this policy.
HOW CAN YOU ACCESS AND CORRECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION AT SDC?
You have the right to request access to, and correction of, your personal information.
SDC acknowledges patients may request access to their medical records. You are required to put this request in writing and this clinic will respond within a reasonable time.
This clinic will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information where the information is not accurate or up to date. From time to time, you will be asked to verify that your personal information held by this clinic is correct and current. You may also request that your information be corrected or updated, and you should make such requests in writing to the Practice Manager.
HOW CAN YOU LODGE A PRIVACY-RELATED COMPLAINT, AND HOW WILL THE COMPLAINT BE HANDLED AT SDC?
Complaints and concerns regarding privacy are taken seriously. You should express any privacy concerns you may have in writing to the Practice via email: practicemanager@sdccampsie.com.au or via telephone: (02) 9789 5955. This clinic will then attempt to resolve it in accordance with our Complaints Resolution Procedure.
You may also contact the Health Care Complaints Commission. Generally, the HCCC will require you to give them time to respond before they will investigate. For further information visit www.hccc.nsw.gov.au or call the HCCC on 1800 043 159.
POLICY REVIEW STATEMENT
This privacy policy will be reviewed regularly to ensure it is in accordance with any changes that may occur.