Frequently Asked Questions

Below are examples of questions that you might have regarding your healthcare services when visiting Northcote Medical. If you have any further questions, please ask our reception team when making your appointment.

    • Our doctors at Northcote Medical take each patient concern seriously and insist on spending enough time on each concern to thoroughly assess and manage them in turn. For this reason, it is often required that further consults are required in order to pay each concern the respect it deserves.

    • In addition to the comprehensive approach that the doctors at Northcote Medical take, there are many circumstances in which follow-up consultations are required for you to access all of your Medicare rebates. This is secondary to many Medicare services (e.g. Mental Health Care Plan preparations) requiring a certain length of consultation time for you to access your rebate and health services.

    • Finally the doctors at Northcote Medical hold a great deal of respect for the time of their patients, and for this reason if it is expected that the doctor will run late you will be advised to book a follow-up consultation as a means of respecting the importance of providing you thorough whole-person care and also respecting the time of other patients.

    • Additional appointments will be subject to standard consult fees.

    • The doctors at Northcote Medical maintain a tight appointment book which is often fully booked on the day. If your regular doctor is unavailable on the day of your request their next available appointment will be offered, or the next available appointment with an alternative doctor.

      • At the discretion of your treating doctor and in exceptional circumstances patients may be squeezed in – this is decided on a case-by-case basis and patients should not expect to be squeezed in on a regular basis.

    • In the event of an emergency, patients of Northcote Medical are advised to contact emergency services for further medical care as the practice is not equipped to manage emergency situations.

    • All patient requests require medical review in order to ensure patients are appropriately medically managed and to ensure the treating doctor is able to provide the assistance being requested. For this reason a consult will be required and the standard fee will apply.

    • If there is any confusion please contact reception via email to discuss your medical needs prior to booking.

    • Northcote Medical takes every effort to ensure that appointment times are respected and patients are not kept waiting. Unfortunately due to the unpredictability of medical care your doctor may be required to provide extended care to any patient. In these circumstances the practice will communicate with you regarding the reason for the delay and work with you to ensure you receive care as promptly as possible.

    • Northcote Medical is a private billing clinic and a standard appointment will incur and out-of-pocket fee. We provide limited bulk-billing services to: 

      1. Children receiving vaccines on the National Immunisation Schedule

      2. Aged Pensioners who have been attending the clinic prior to 2023

    • All new patients will be subject to fees as per the fees table.

    • Yes. Between the hours of 9am and 1pm Monday to Friday other concession card holders are charged a reduced private fee. Please see our fee page for more details.

    • Due to the continued erosion of the Medicare Health Insurance scheme it has now become necessary to expand our private fees to other patient groups. This decision has not been made lightly and we sincerely apologise for any distress this may cause, but it has unfortunately become necessary in order for us to continue to provide expert whole-person care.

    • If you have any concerns or questions regarding your ongoing medical care please contact our admin team.

    • Despite the Federal Government promises of additional funding to support Bulk-Billing services, Medicare rebates have consistently failed to keep up with the rising costs of providing expert whole-person care. In addition, Medicare has also announced plans to reduce funding for management of chronic diseases and mental health in 2025. This stands to put further pressure on our ability to provide a comprehensive service.     

    • If the realities of inadequate Medicare funding and rising healthcare costs are affecting you we strongly encourage you to contact your local member of parliament via the link below:

      https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/members/member-search/?page=1&pageSize=10&sortType=2

    • It is your responsibility prior to confirming and attending your appointment to review our Fee and Practice Policies. Please ensure you review both prior to attending as the fee will apply following your consult.

  • Yes. If you are experiencing cold or flu-like symptoms (such as cough, sore throat, fever, or runny nose), please let us know before your appointment. This helps us take the right precautions to keep all patients and staff safe.

    • No. Northcote Medical doctors charge for their services as per the practices Fee and Practice Policy. Please ensure you have reviewed both policies and discussed the fee with your doctor prior to completion of the consultation as it will not be changed after.

    • Telehealth consults are treated the same as face-to-face consultations.

    • We provide telehealth services by phone and by video-consult using the GPconsults program. At the time of your appointment you should receive a phone call or an SMS message with a link to a video-consult. We generally encourage video telehealth to better assess your condition and provide the best possible service remotely.  

    • In the event the doctor is running behind it remains the patient's responsibility to maintain their availability to accept the call at a later time, just as though they were still waiting in the clinic for an in-person consult.

    • If the doctor calls at the appointment time and you do not answer the call it will be treated as a non-attendance and the cancellation fee will apply. Doctors will attempt multiple times to contact patients prior to moving on to their next booked patient.

    • In the event of a missed telehealth consult the patient will be required to organise another appointment which will also be subject to standard consult fees. Patients should also expect to pay the standard cancellation fee.

    • The doctors at Northcote Medical are medicolegally obligated to complete a medical review prior to issuing prescriptions, referrals for investigations and specialists, and release of medical information.

    • Patients should expect to have to book in a consultation to complete their request which will incur the standard consult fee.

    • Northcote Medical doctors maintain a tight appointment schedule, allowing only a certain amount of time per patient. In the event that you miss your appointment time then you have missed your appointment and will be required to reschedule and settle the non-attendance fee. 

    • Medicare requirements dictate that for a patient to have a Mental Health Care Plan prepared they require at least a 20 minute consultation with a doctor. Our doctors therefore require at least a 30 minute consultation, or preferably a 60 minute consultation, so they can fully explore your concerns and appropriately create your management plan. This ensures it is Medicare compliant so you can continue to access your Medicare-subsidized psychological services.

    • Dr Ameer Shehab is a Specialist General Practitioner who has completed further training to provide psychotherapeutic services directly to patients. These services include EMDR, CBT, ACT, Schema therapy, Neuroaffirming care, Autism and ADHD assessment, and Eating Disorder management. For these reasons his fee for psychological services is higher. Please consider this when booking your consultation as his private fees will apply for all psychological services.

    • No. At this time we are not taking on new patients for Workcover/TAC.

    • The doctors at Northcote Medical take a risk minimisation approach to prescribing of all medications including Schedule 8 medications. Patients are encouraged to book a consultation with a doctor to discuss their medical needs with the understanding that the doctors reserve the right not to prescribe any medications if it is deemed to be inappropriate or unsafe at the time of consultation. In these circumstances where a consult has been completed and you have not been prescribed the desired medication the standard fees will still apply.

    • No.

  • Yes. If you have cold or flu-like symptoms, we ask that you take a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) before attending your appointment. If your result is positive, please do not come into the clinic. Instead, contact us to arrange a telehealth consultation, or we can help you reschedule your appointment for a later date.