Frequently Asked Questions

While a GP referral is helpful and often required for insurance claims, you can still book directly with us for a private consultation. We're happy to guide you through the process.

Our clinic primarily sees adults aged 15 and over. If you are seeking care for a younger patient, please contact us and we can help guide you to the appropriate service.

Telehealth can be very effective for conditions where diagnosis is primarily based on clinical history, such as headache or suspected seizure disorders. However, suitability is considered on a case-by-case basis, depending on your needs and comfort with virtual consultations. We offer both telehealth and in-person appointments and will work with you to determine the best option.

If you are experiencing symptoms suggestive of a TIA or stroke, we recommend seeking immediate medical attention through your local hospital emergency department. These conditions require urgent assessment in the public system.

Certain tests like blood work can sometimes be arranged through the public system. However, public radiology services generally do not accept scan requests from private neurologists. This is important to keep in mind when considering imaging options.

Imaging is typically arranged after your initial consultation to ensure the most appropriate test is selected. If you've had recent imaging, please bring the results to your appointment.

It's always a good idea to plan ahead and bring any questions you may have to your consultation, so we can make the best use of the time together. We fully understand that further questions may arise afterwards, and we are more than happy to arrange a follow-up review to discuss these in detail.

Please note that we are unable to provide medical advice by email. While email may feel convenient, it is not a safe or reliable way to convey medical information. Even when a question seems clear, it may have multiple possible implications for your doctor, and important details can easily be missed. This creates a significant risk of misinterpretation, which can affect your care and safety.

For these reasons, email should be reserved for brief administrative matters only. Any clinical concerns are best managed through a scheduled consultation, where we have the time, context, and information needed to provide thorough and safe guidance.

We completely understand that many patients are required to submit medical forms for insurers, employers, agencies, or other organisations, and we appreciate that this can be stressful.

Please be aware that the consultation time you book with us is specifically for clinical assessment, discussion, and management planning. Completing forms, reports, or questionnaires requires additional time outside the consultation and is not included in the standard consultation fee.

We have received clarification from insurance providers that private health insurance does not cover medical form completion. As a result, any time spent reviewing and completing forms must be paid for directly by the patient.

If you send us a form, we are happy to review it first and advise whether it is appropriate for us to complete, or whether it may be more suitable for your general practitioner. If we believe the form can reasonably be completed by our clinic, we will provide you with a quote based on the time and complexity involved. Work on the form will only begin once the quoted fee has been accepted and payment has been made.

Please also note that ACC-related forms will only be completed for patients who are registered with our practice as ACC-referred clients.

We aim to be transparent, fair, and respectful of everyone's time, while ensuring that any documentation we complete is accurate and appropriate. If you are unsure whether a form can be completed by us, our team is happy to help guide you before you proceed.

We kindly ask that all invoices be settled promptly. Unpaid invoices may affect future appointment scheduling. If you're experiencing difficulties, please contact us — we're here to help.

Yes, a cancellation fee may apply for appointments cancelled with short notice, as this time could be offered to other patients. We appreciate as much notice as possible if you need to reschedule.

We prepare independent third-party reports for ACC. Once submitted, any concerns or requests for changes must be directed to your ACC case manager, as we are unable to modify reports post-submission.

We understand how frustrating insurance declines can be. However, we are required to document clinical findings accurately and ethically. We're unable to modify letters for the purpose of securing insurance approval. We encourage you to discuss the matter directly with your insurer, as they may offer options for appealing the decision.

For administrative and funding reasons, patients are registered either as ACC clients or as private clients (self funded or privately insured).

These funding pathways are managed separately and cannot be combined or changed retrospectively within a single episode of care. This is because ACC and private care involve different approval processes, documentation requirements, and reporting obligations.

If you wish to be seen under ACC:

Please note that we are not contracted with ACC. All ACC referrals must come directly from your ACC Case Manager and must include:

• An ACC Purchase Order number
• The relevant ACC service code (MSDA1 standard or MSDA2 complex)

Once ACC approval has been granted, the ACC Case Manager will forward the referral and supporting documentation to our clinic. We will then review the referral to assess suitability and, if appropriate, coordinate directly with ACC to arrange an appointment.

Please be aware that consultations initially booked as private (self funded or insured) cannot later be converted to ACC funded appointments.

Yes. Protecting patient confidentiality and personal information is a core priority of our practice. We use secure systems, strict access controls, and established privacy policies to safeguard health information.

No. Our practice does not use the patient portal service that was involved in the recent incident.

Any questions or concerns relating specifically to that incident should be directed to the patient portal provider involved or to the general practice that uses that system. We are not able to provide information about systems we do not use or control.

We use reputable, widely adopted healthcare and business systems that are configured with appropriate security controls. These include secure clinical systems, encrypted email and document handling, and trusted platforms used for healthcare administration and accounting.

Our systems employ industry standard safeguards such as encryption, secure authentication, role based access controls, audit logging, and regular software updates. Access to patient information is restricted to authorised staff only and is governed by internal privacy and security policies.

Information security is an ongoing process. We regularly review our systems, procedures, and staff training to ensure we continue to meet appropriate standards for privacy and data protection in healthcare.