FAQ: Supportive Care at QMSC: Priority Care

What Is Supportive Care?

People living with advanced chronic health conditions often face challenges managing their symptoms and accessing support in a timely manner, which increases the risk of needing to go to hospital.

Supportive care is being offered at QMSC for high priority patients. This aims to:

• Offer you more regular, planned appointments with your practice nurse and GP
• Telehealth support if you are unable to attend your appointment in person
• Support access to appointments in between your regular planned appointments, when your symptoms are more problematic than usual
• Offer support with your health care including providing resources, appropriate referrals and assistance with decision making and advance care planning.
• Offer your carer/family resources to help them feel supported in their role as carer.

What is Priority Care?

People that have been identified by our health care team as having complex chronic health conditions, may be flagged as being eligible for priority care.

How Does Priority Care Work?

If you require an urgent appointment and there are no appointments available, as a priority care patient, you will be transferred to our clinical nursing team for further assessment.

• The nurse will then speak with your regular treating doctor or another doctor if your regular doctor is not in the clinic.
• Where possible, we will seek to fit in an urgent appointment with your regular doctor or another available doctor.
• Unfortunately, if our doctors have no further capability to fit another urgent appointment in, you may be directed to a GP Urgent Care Clinic or the Emergency Department.

How Do I Become A Priority Care Patient?

Only your doctor can request this. It is based on the complexity of your chronic health conditions.

How Do We Flag Your Patient File?

If your doctor requests, a ‘priority care’ icon will be uploaded to the demographic section of your patient file. This means when you call to make an appointment, our reception team can see that you are a priority care patient.

Can I Book An Urgent Care Appointment Online As A Priority Care Patient?

No. Priority Care is only available by calling and speaking with our reception team in the first instance, followed by a member of our nursing team.

Does Priority Care Mean I Will Always Get An Appointment?

General Practitioners in Australia are in short supply and our appointment schedules are fully booked days or weeks in advance. We set aside ‘on the day appointments’ and also fit extra urgent care patients into the daily appointment schedule, with our GPs often working through lunch or beyond their regular hours. Unfortunately, there is a limit to what we can manage and at times we may need to direct you elsewhere. We thank you for your understanding.

What Can I Do If I Can’t See My Regular Treating GP Or Attend My Regular Practice?

We recommend always having an up-to-date patient health summary with you. Your regular GP can print you a copy. A Shared Patient Health Record can also be uploaded to your ‘My Health Record’. Ask you GP to do this.

Is There An Out-Of-Pocket Cost For Supportive Or Priority Care?

At present, our GPs continue to accept your Medicare rebate as payment (with no out-of-pocket costs) for 3 monthly reviews under the Chronic Conditions Management Plan system (also known as Care Plans).

Outside of the 3 monthly reviews, regular fees will apply. Your GP’s fee schedule is available on our website.