With the increasing spread of COVID-19 in the community, we are taking extra steps to keep you, your family and our staff safe while maintaining our high standard of care. We are very mindful of maintaining a COVID-19 free surgery environment so that we can remain open and serve you. As of the 31st of January you will notice a few changes.

Booking

Consultations will preferably be via telehealth (video or telephone) if possible. Our booking service, HotDocs, will only allow telehealth bookings. There will of course be times when you need to be seen face to face for physical assessment or procedures. Please ring our friendly reception staff if you feel that a face to face appointment is needed. An initial telehealth assessment may need to be undertaken before bringing you into the surgery.

Telehealth consultations

These have taken a bit of getting used to for Doctors and Patients alike, but have become a vital tool in reducing the spread of COVID-19. Keep your phone switched on and handy and set to receive calls even from “no caller ID” (in your phone settings). Many telehealth calls are now via video link. Keep a close eye on your incoming messages as the link to follow to start the video call may come through that way. It’s much nicer if you can see our face and we can assess you better that way too!

Arriving for a face to face appointment

When you arrive for a booked face to face appointment please remain outside the practice in your vehicle or make use of our “al fresco” chairs at the back entrance at South Street or in front of the practice at the Beaconsfield branch. Ring reception to let us know you are here. The Receptionist will screen you over the phone for any respiratory symptoms or fevers or any recent contact at exposure sites. They will also confirm your COVID-19 vaccination status.*

The Doctor will likely start the consultation by initially calling you on your phone, so keep it switched on and handy and set to receive calls even from “no caller ID” (in your phone settings). The Doctor will then bring you into the practice for your examination or procedure. This will reduce your risk of possible exposure by limiting the time in contact with staff and other patients. Please don’t forget your mask and your vaccination certificate!

Warm Clinics

Most face to face appointments are undertaken with the staff in limited PPE (personal protective equipment) with Patients who have no respiratory symptoms or fever. This protects both our staff and patients moving through the practice. There may be some times when a patient will need to be seen face to face where the infection risk is higher (e.g. a necessary face to face appointment with someone with recent contact at an exposure site or a face to face visit with a patient who is not fully immunized*). Additionally, there may be times when at a telehealth appointment your Doctor decides that you will need to be further assessed in person even though you have respiratory symptoms and/or fever. (note: most patients with respiratory symptoms or fevers can be safely treated via a telehealth appointment with the Doctor). All Warm Clinic appointments are booked after an initial Telehealth consultation at the Doctor’s discretion. They cannot be directly booked through Reception.

Warm Clinics take place with your Doctor in full PPE in a dedicated room and at a time of the day when there is minimal traffic of potentially vulnerable Patients through the practice. The Warm Clinic GP will need to see a negative PCR or RAT test to COVID-19, except under extenuating circumstances where they decide otherwise.

The process at arrival is otherwise the same as mentioned above.

Please note that there may be times when your Telehealth consulting Doctor may suggest the dedicated GP run Respiratory Clinic in Victoria Park or the Emergency Department as the best option rather than our Warm Clinic based on their assessment of your condition.

We will continue to adapt our procedures to keep step with the changing conditions over the next few weeks to months to keep our Patients and Staff safe. Updates will appear on our Website or speak to one of our friendly Receptionists.

Regards

The team at Fremantle Family Doctors.