The short answer
We would dearly love to offer care that is free to use. We can’t, and still give you the kind of general practice we believe in. Our fees pay for the things that make a visit here what it is: time with a doctor who knows you, a team chosen with care, and a practice that has proved its standards to independent assessors.
What your fee pays for
Time
We protect longer appointments. Our appointment slots are at least 15 minutes, so there is room to listen, to examine you properly and to plan your care together. If you need more time, you can book it.
Continuity
We want to be your GP for life. Our doctors commit to a long-term relationship with the practice and with you, so you can see someone who already knows your story. Our care is more like a marathon than a sprint: paced, planned, and designed to keep you going strong for the long run.
Hand-picked doctors
We choose each of our doctors individually, for their experience, their manner and their commitment to staying with us. All of them take part in regular performance review and clinical improvement.
Accreditation
We have spent considerable time and money becoming an accredited practice. That means independent surveyors have assessed us against the RACGP Standards for general practices, so you don’t have to take our word for it.
Facilities and services
Running the practice costs a great deal: our lounge and treatment rooms, modern examination and monitoring equipment, longer opening hours and staff with an extended scope of practice. Your fee also supports things that save you time and trips, such as:
- electronic results, so you are not asked to come back just to hear a result when a review isn’t needed
- online repeat script ordering, with no appointment needed
- telehealth appointments
- a complimentary barista-made drink from The Bothy when you visit.
Training
We invest in ongoing training and review for every member of our team, doctors included, to keep their knowledge current.
Medicare rebates and the cost of care
The Medicare rebate was always a contribution set by government, not a price set by doctors. It was designed to track typical fees, but decades of under-indexation mean it now covers well under the real cost of a GP consultation. For many years rebates were not indexed to inflation, so they have not kept pace with the cost of running a practice. Practices across Australia have had to close because their income could not keep up with their costs.
We feel strongly that care should not have to get shorter as costs rise. So we worked out what it costs to provide care to the standard we expect of our doctors (and that you expect of us), and we set our fees to cover it.
The Government offers incentive payments to practices that bulk bill. For us, those payments would not cover the cost of the longer appointments, the team and the facilities described above.
Our discount
We want care here to be within reach for the people who are most at risk. We offer a $10 discount on our fees for:
- children under 16
- adults over 65
- concession card holders
- veterans and DVA card holders.
Beyond this discount, we are not able to routinely bulk bill or discount our services further.
Fair and open
We publish all our fees openly on our website, so you know what to expect before you book. Whenever the Government increases Medicare rebates, we pass the increase on to you, and we keep your costs as reasonable as we can.
After all, we are Doctors. Done Different.