Yoorana Gunya Policies and Procedures

Patient Privacy and Confidentiality

Yoorana Gunya is committed to providing high-quality healthcare and protecting the privacy and confidentiality of your personal information. We collect personal information to ensure you receive safe, effective, and appropriate care.

We handle all patient information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012, the Australian Privacy Principles, and relevant State and Territory privacy legislation.

We collect only information that is necessary for your medical care and treatment, as well as for the effective management of our medical practice. This information may be obtained from a range of healthcare providers involved in your care, including specialists, pathologists, hospitals, allied health professionals, and radiologists. Information may be collected by both clinical and administrative staff as part of providing coordinated care.

Your health information is securely stored in our electronic medical record system. Access is strictly controlled, password protected, and limited to staff according to their role and level of authorisation.

We are required by law to retain medical records for specific periods, which may vary depending on your age at the time of service.

In emergency situations, relevant information may be collected from family members or carers where necessary to support your care. If you wish for a third party to act on your behalf or access your information, you will be required to complete a consent form. This can be provided by Reception.

All requests for third-party access are assessed by the treating clinician, who will determine whether disclosure is appropriate and compliant with legal and clinical obligations.

Complaints

At Yoorana Gunya, we value patient experience and are committed to providing high-quality care. Patients have the right to provide feedback or make a complaint if they feel our service has not met their expectations.

We aim to address and resolve concerns as promptly as possible, often at the time they are raised. Patient feedback is an important part of our continuous quality improvement process and helps us enhance the care and services we provide.

Feedback can be provided in writing or submitted via the QR code displayed at reception, which links directly to our Quality Register.

All complaints are recorded and investigated by the appropriate manager and handled in a fair and timely manner. Where appropriate, the matter will be discussed with relevant staff, and a response will be provided to the patient outlining the outcome.

Appointments Policy

Our patient scheduling system is flexible to accommodate patients with urgent, non-urgent, complex and planned chronic care, and preventative needs. We do not take appointment bookings via social media or email or provide any other patients information on these platforms.

Patients who fail to attend (FTA) their appointment will be mailed a letter and there will be a charge of $25.00 that must be paid prior to the patient being able to book another appointment. This policy is to monitor and manage fail to attend appointments (no shows) and is necessary to ensure that we are able to provide timely access for all patients to our nurses and general practitioners. 

Yoorana Gunya has a reminder system that sends patients a text to remind them of their appointment. If you do not wish to be a part of the reminder system, please let our reception team know.

Communication Policy

Our practice provides patients with timely access to clinical advice and information through telephone consultations with a General Practitioner where appropriate.

Please note that we do not operate a voicemail system, and patients are unable to leave voice messages. However, messages can be left with Reception, and these will be passed on to the appropriate staff member for follow-up. Patient names are never disclosed over the phone within earshot of other patients or visitors, in line with privacy and confidentiality requirements. All staff are trained in the individual call-back processes for each General Practitioner.

Patients may also receive advice, information about their care, or appointment reminders via electronic communication, including fax, email, SMS, and telephone.

All emails sent or received in the course of work are considered official business communications and form part of the practice’s clinical and administrative records.

After Hours Arrangements / Emergencies 

If you require after hours care or emergency assistance please go to Forbes Hospital Emergency Department located on Elgin Street, Forbes. If you require emergency assistance and an ambulance please call 000.