PRACTICE POLICIES

 

Cancellation List Policy – Detailed Patient Guidelines

To help us manage appointments fairly and efficiently, our Cancellation List policy has been updated from 10/2/2026

In short: due to increased demand and inappropriate use of the cancellation list, stricter guidelines now apply. These rules apply to all patients, regardless of how long you have attended the practice or your relationship with a particular doctor.

Important Rule (Applies to Everyone)

Patients must have a future appointment booked in order to be placed on the cancellation list.

  • This can be with your regular doctor or the next available doctor.

  • No booked future appointment = no cancellation list placement.

Requests for Results (Blood Tests, Scans, Hospital Correspondence etc.)

  • If your results do not require action, you will not be contacted.

  • If your results require follow-up, you will be contacted by the practice.

Non-urgent results:

  • If you already have an appointment booked within the next 3 weeks, you will need to wait for that appointment and will not be placed on the cancellation list.

  • If you do not have an appointment booked, you may be placed on the cancellation list, provided you also book the next available follow-up appointment.

  • If your next appointment is more than 3 weeks away, you may be placed on the cancellation list.

  • Please note: non-urgent results appointments will be triaged accordingly and may take 1–3 weeks to become available.

 You may also choose to book a results appointment with any available doctor.

Forgotten or Lost Prescriptions

  • Forgotten or lost prescriptions are treated as urgent, but not emergencies.

  • Reception staff will first confirm when your current medication will run out.

  • For most medications, you will be booked into the next available phone appointment with any doctor.

  • Requests for a specific doctor cannot be accommodated for urgent prescription issues.

If your medication requires special authority and is urgent, you may be placed on the cancellation list for your regular doctor only if you also book a future appointment.

Specialist and Allied Health Referrals

  • Repeat referral requests are treated similarly to urgent prescription requests.

  • Reception staff will confirm the date of your specialist appointment.

  • Urgent repeat referrals will be booked with the next available doctor.

  • Requests for a specific doctor cannot be accommodated for urgent referrals.

If you are requesting a new referral (for a specialist you have not previously seen), you may be placed on the cancellation list with your regular GP, provided you also book a future appointment.

Pathology and Imaging Requests

  • Routine pathology requests require a booked appointment and will not be placed on the cancellation list.

  • Urgent imaging (for example, suspected fractures) may be placed on the cancellation list.

  • Non-urgent imaging requests require a booked appointment but may also be placed on the cancellation list.

Thank You!

These guidelines help us ensure fair access to appointments for all patients. Our reception team is happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

PATIENT EMAIL & SMS POLICY

Our patients will be given the option of being contacted by electronic means such as via email and/or SMS.

All new and existing patients in the practice are asked to provide signed consent on the New Patient Information form to agree or disagree to be communicated with in this manner.

It is acknowledged by the practice that consent is implied if the patient initiates electronic communication with the practice.

Reception staff are to check each patient has this information on their record on arrival to the practice, along with the verification of their name, date of birth and address.

The signed consent will be scanned and recorded in the patient electronic record and their response recorded on the practice software.

Further information will state that the practice: 1. cannot guarantee confidentiality of info transferred via email, 2. will comply with Australian Privacy Principles & the Privacy Act 1988, 3. Communications will not contain sensitive information, due to the risk of confidential information being accessed inadvertently or intentionally by a third party and 4. Communications will not contain results that only the general practitioner should be divulging in a follow-up appointment, i.e. abnormal results, education concerning a new diagnosis, etc

Patients will be advised through the consent form that:

• emails will be answered within 2 business days.

• patients should not use email to contact the practice in an emergency.

Our practice email account for patients and stakeholders for non-urgent communication with our practice is umccaboolture@unitedmedical.net.au

This email account will the routinely checked throughout the business day by the delegated authority, reception staff including: at the start of business, midday and one hour before end of business.

The email message will then be forwarded to the appropriate team member for response. Communication conducted with a patient via electronic means will be added to the patient’s medical record by the team member resolving the enquiry.

Should patients contact the practice via email for:

• Appointment bookings or cancellations as a form of contact

• Form of contact for doctors’ requests

A response will be sent stating to contact the practice as this is not a form of communication we use for these types of request, as previously stated in this policy.


PRIVACY POLICY EXTRACT

The management of your personal health information is of the utmost importance to United Medical Centres Caboolture. All medical records (both manual and computerised) are treated as strictly confidential.

It is the policy of this practice to maintain security of personal health information at all times and to ensure this information is only available to authorised people.

This is a summary of our Full Privacy Policy. A copy may be requested with reception at any time.

PHONE consultations: we’re here to help

United Medical Centre Caboolture is offering telephone appointments where it is safe and clinically appropriate to do so. We are also still offering face-to-face consultations as per usual. Telephone appointments will be processed in line with our regular Billing Policy.

Criteria for a telehealth consultation are as follows:

  • You must have a valid Medicare card

  • You must have seen one of our GP’s in the past 12 months

  • A telephone appointment can only be booked by calling Reception

Please be aware, you will still need to attend the clinic and/or pay for some services.

We're here to help. Book an appointment now