Generic Clinical Information For Veterans Utilising AVHS

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Our Doctors

Dr Andrew Cronin
Consulting: Monday to Friday by appointment.
Special Interests: ADF Veteran Health, Mental health, and Chronic disease management. US Aviation (FAA) and Australian Aviation (CASA) Medicals.

Dr Steven Smith
Consulting: Monday to Friday by appointment.
Special Interests: ADF Veteran Health, Mental health, and Chronic disease management.

Practice Staff 

Practice Manager: Bernedette Griinke
Nursing Staff:  Amanda Goldsmith RN
Reception Staff: Tyler and Meghan

Our Practice For Veterans

The Australian Veteran Health Services (AVHS) are designed to assist service personnel in their transition from military life to civilian life. A medical service run by Veterans for Veterans. AVHS believes that the provision of these services will assist Veterans in the most vulnerable part of their lives, the transition from military to civilian life.

Practice Hours 

Monday to Thursday:  0730 – 1600
Friday: 0730 – 1430
Saturday/Sunday: Closed
Public Holidays: Closed

After Hours Care (when we are closed) 

Our practice uses National Home Doctor 13SICK (137 425) to provide after-hours care when our practice is closed. This service is available from 1800 to 0730, Saturdays from midday, all-day Sunday and all day on gazetted public holidays. If patients require an appointment on a Saturday, please call the Wellness Medical Centre on (07) 3085 4370, located downstairs on Level 1.
Please remember: – If you have a medical emergency, please telephone ‘000’ for immediate care.

Closest Hospital

The nearest hospital is Ipswich General Hospital, located on Chelmsford Avenue, Ipswich, and their number is 3810 1111.

Home Visits

Home visits are unavailable through AVHS.

Appointments

Our specialist practice operates on an appointment basis with a standard consultation being approximately 30 minutes long with the practice nurse and 30 minutes long with the doctor. A standard appointment is usually adequate to deal with intake issues and all appointments are booked by the medical practice.
To allow us to book the correct amount of time with the doctor and the nurse, please let our friendly reception staff know if your booking is for a health assessment or a medical examination such as a permanent impairment assessment or ADF transition medical.
Allowing extra time helps our doctors and nurses run on time and gives our patients time to address their individual health needs.
Appointments are made each day for Intake, Permanent Impairment and CASA/FAA medicals, so please ensure a separate appointment is made for each issue.

Our Fees

Billing for our patients is direct to the Department of Veteran Affairs, or under certain white card conditions, to Medicare. Please note that the reception staff will process Medicare and DVA claims.
CASA and FAA Pilot medicals incur an out-of-pocket cost.
All consultations will be bulk billed at AVHS if you have a VALID Medicare or DVA Card, so patients without a Medicare card will need to apply for one.
Permanent Impairment Assessments will be billed directly to DVA. Please ensure that you have your DVA claim number available.

Our Services

Our practice offers many services to Veterans including :

  • DVA Claims
  • DVA Permanent Impairment Assessments
  • ADF Transition Medicals
  • Health Assessments
  • Mental Health Care Plans and Care Plans
  • Chronic Disease Management
  • FAA and CASA Pilot Aviation Medicals*

(*Fee Charged).

Telephone Access to Your Specialist GP

AVHS believes that the consultation is the best place to deal with almost all problems. However, you can contact the doctors during practice opening hours, the receptionist will take a message. Our emails are not encrypted. Please take care of sharing any of your confidential information.
Telehealth Consultations are available at AVHS, but you must have been seen face to face by a doctor in this practice to be eligible for a Telehealth consultation. Please call our reception to book a Telehealth consultation.

Reminder System and No-Show Policy

We know it can be difficult sometimes to remember appointments. Our patients are reminded to attend appointments by SMS or phone call within 24 hours before the appointment time. If you are unable to attend the appointment, please cancel as soon as possible.
If you do not attend your appointment after three attempts, you will need to phone the practice and make an appointment.
Your doctor will seek permission to include you in our reminder system. We may issue you with a reminder letter or SMS message from time to time, offering you preventative health services. Patients can elect to opt out of non-urgent preventative health, as long as they have made an informed decision. The decision to be excluded from reminder recalls for non-urgent or ongoing disease maintenance issues will be recorded in your file.

Same Day Policy

If you or someone you know is unwell enough to call us, we may be able to conduct a Telehealth appointment at the Medical Practitioner’s request. The appointment may not be with your usual doctor, but we always do our best to accommodate your unique needs.
Please note from time to time there are emergencies, and on occasions, this policy may not apply.

Waiting Times

No one likes to be kept waiting. Our staff respect this and try to adhere to appointment times. The unpredictable nature of a medical practice means that consultations sometimes last longer than anticipated. We sincerely regret any inconvenience caused to patients when we are behind schedule.
Reception staff will also try to phone you and advise of any delay, however, you may also wish to phone our office to check whether your appointment will be on time.
If you require any assistance, please consult our friendly staff.

Repeat Prescriptions

To monitor your health and fulfil our ethical and legal responsibilities, we require that you attend your doctor (or if your usual doctor is not available, one of the other doctors) to receive further prescriptions for your medications.

Medical Certificates

A certificate may only be issued after an examination by a doctor, so please make an appointment for this.

Test Results

It is the policy of this practice to have all patients return for a consultation for their results. In certain circumstances, the practice Doctor will contact you to give results over the phone and discuss radiology or pathology results.

Email Communication

Emails from the website contact form or other message platforms such as Facebook are  reviewed on the next business day.

Management Of Your Files

Your medical information and records are confidential. It is the policy of this practice to maintain the security of personal health information. This information is only available to authorised personnel.
Please note that AVHS often forwards certain medical information to other medical organisations, such as Radiology and Imaging Services. Forwarding medical records is standard practice and is for the benefit of the patient. AVHS shares this information in accordance with the current Privacy Act. Should you require further details, please speak to the Practice Manager.
Also, please note referrals cannot be backdated for legal purposes.

Your Rights

We understand and appreciate that you have a right to participate in the decision-making process of your health requirements. All staff are dedicated to allowing patients this option.

Vaccines

Patients are encouraged to take advantage of free vaccines made available by the Federal and State Governments. Please ask our nursing staff or your doctor for further details.

Interpreter Service

Whatever your preferred language, we can help you organise an interpreter to assist with any language barriers. We also arrange interpreters through Telephone Interpreting Service (TIS) National www.tis.gov.au
AVHS uses the Telephone Interpreter Service 1300 131 450 when required. We can organise an “over the phone” service or with 48 hours’ notice an “on-site” service.

Patient Feedback Process

The staff of AVHS genuinely wish to hear from you so please provide your feedback to our friendly reception staff.
From time to time this practice invites patients to complete questionnaires on their views of the practice and where there is room for improvement. These surveys are completely confidential and help us to improve our services.
We encourage all patients to provide feedback on the standards of service received and any identified areas for improvement by speaking to our friendly practice staff.

Lodging a Complaint

If you wish to make a complaint or have any concerns, we encourage you to contact our Practice Manager as the first point of contact: manager@avhs.com.au.
AVHS staff will endeavour to handle your complaint or concern promptly. If you are unhappy with the outcome, you can also make a formal complaint to:
Office of the Health Ombudsman:
133 OHO (133 646)
Po Box 13281, George Street, Brisbane QLD 4003.
www.oho.qld.gov.au

You can download a copy of this general information sheet for veterans here.