The holiday season is upon us, and 2024 is swiftly drawing to a close. It’s been another busy year at Your Family Doctors as we continue to serve our amazing community. We feel truly privileged to care for the medical needs of our patients, and we are grateful to you for choosing us as your health partners.
In this month’s bumper Christmas newsletter, we will be updating you on our Christmas Opening Hours, hot doc results notifications and our Laverty pathology on-site collection centre is opening soon. We will be putting a spotlight on menopause and updating you on whooping cough with cases on the rise in school aged children. At YFD its beginning to feel a lot like Christmas with our recent staff Christmas party and our Christmas door decorating competition in full swing. Who will win this year?
CHRISTMAS OPENING HOURS
Your Family Doctors will be open during the Christmas and New Year periods except for the public holidays. Please see our opening hours as listed above. A friendly reminder to check your scripts in advance and don’t leave them until the last minute as some of our doctors will be on leave.
Need a GP after hours during the Christmas period? Bridges GP after hours clinic at Erina and Kanwal will remain open. A copy of your consultation notes and any test results will be sent to your local GP as we know continuity of care is so important.
For more information on how this service is operating during the Christmas and holiday period go to https://ccpc.com.au/after-hours-gp-clinics/
The Urgent Care Clinic at Long Jetty is also available for non life threatening injuries or illnesses. Call health direct on 1800 022 222 to speak to a nurse and book an appointment.
In the event of an emergency please go to Gosford or Wyong hospital or call 000.
LAVERTY PATHOLOGY
Your Family Doctors at Erina is excited to announce that Laverty Pathology will be opening an onsite collection centre at our premises in the second week of January.
Laverty is a leading pathology provider in NSW and ACT and will be operating 4 mornings a week – Monday to Thursday from 8am to 1 pm/
COMING SOON – RESULTS VIA HOTDOC
We are already using HotDoc to send you health messages by SMS for clinical reminders.
From February 1st we will also be sending your results as a secure SMS where appropriate.
You will receive your results via HotDoc SMS if:
- Your result is normal and requires no immediate action.
- Your doctor would like you to book an appointment to discuss your results – this will have a “Book Appointment” button at the bottom of the message for you to book the correct type of appointment online.
- Your doctor may also send you a personalised message, instruction, or recommendation regarding your results.
Why results via text?
This enables you to get your result as quickly as possible – once your doctor sees and actions your result, you will receive a txt within 24hrs. This may provide you with peace of mind and give you the earliest opportunity to discuss the result with your doctor.
Nervous about clicking links?
We know it can be difficult to know if an SMS with a link to click could be a scam so take note of the above image to see how the message will look when it comes through to your mobile. Once you follow the link you will see our practice name, logo and your doctors name then requesting you to enter your surname and date of birth – this is to keep your results secure and only available to you. If you are still unsure, simply call our practice and check if you have a health reminder or result available.
Don’t want to receive these health reminders? That’s ok, you will just need to “Opt Out” – please see information here (How can I opt out of HotDoc Communication? Go to https://help.hotdoc.com.au/hc/en-gb/articles/205295050-How-can-I-opt-out-of-HotDoc-Communication or simply tell our team and we can update your HotDoc permissions.
FEE INCREASE
Your Family Doctors is a private billing practice.
To continue to provide high quality health care we need to charge a fee above the Medicare rebate. Unfortunately, the Medicare rebate set by the government has not kept up with inflation and the rising costs of providing medical services. The Medicare rebate of $42 for a consult less than 20 minutes equates to less than 50% of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) recommended fee of $102. As we are a private business with staff, equipment and rent to pay, it is not sustainable to bulk bill. This includes telehealth consultations.
As of Jan 6th 2025 we will be increasing our fees. If you are a family with high medical needs, you may reach your safety net, which means your rebate will become higher, dramatically reducing out-of-pocket expenses. It is recommended all family members are on the same Medicare card to ensure all transactions contribute to your total. Click here To find out more about the medicare safety net,
If you are concerned about the out-of-pocket cost of your medical care, we encourage you to join us in advocating for better Government funding of Medicare and higher rebates for patients. We remain committed to supporting those families in considerable financial distress.
GP Management plans, GP Management plan reviews, and health assessments will continue to be bulk billed, depending on eligibility.
Thank you so much for your understanding, and please show kindness to our team.
A SPOTLIGHT ON MENOPAUSE
The term ‘menopause’ refers to the final menstrual period. When a woman has had no periods for 12 consecutive months she is considered to be postmenopausal. In Australia, the average age of menopause is 51 years, but it’s normal to have menopause anywhere between 45 and 55 years – although some women have it at an earlier or later age. Perimenopause is the time leading up to menopause.
Many women experience symptoms before reaching menopause. Everyone is different and symptoms can vary depending on your health, lifestyle, cultural background and family history. Common symptoms include:
- hot flushes and night sweats
- mood changes
- forgetfulness
- headaches
- sore breasts
- aches and pains
- dry vagina
- reduced sex drive
- itchy skin
- weight gain
You should have a chat to your doctor if:
- you are worried about your periods
- your symptoms stop you from doing things you normally do.
- your symptoms affect your eating, sleeping and enjoyment of activities.
The medical team at YFD are very experienced in treating peri-menopausal and menopausal symptoms. To have a consultation with one of our doctors to discuss your symptoms please book a long ‘menopause’ appointment so we can give you the time you deserve.
For more information ……
https://www.jeanhailes.org.au/health-a-z/menopause
https://www.jeanhailes.org.au/resources/perimenopause-and-menopause-symptom-checklist
WHOOPING COUGH (PERTUSSIS)
Whooping cough cases are on the rise, especially in school aged children. Whooping cough (pertussis) is a serious respiratory infection that affects people of all ages. It is very infectious and spreads easily from one person to another. It affects people of all ages and can be life-threatening in babies. Children and adults generally don’t get as sick, but can pass it on to babies who are at higher risk.
Vaccination reduces the risk of infection and severe illness. It is very important for pregnant women to be vaccinated during each pregnancy to protect the baby in its first months of life. Treatment for whooping cough is available.
What are the symptoms?
- Whooping cough usually starts like a cold with a blocked or runny nose, sneezing, a mild fever and an occasional cough.
- The cough typically gets worse and severe bouts of uncontrollable coughing can develop. Coughing bouts can be followed by vomiting, choking or taking a big gasping breath which causes a “whooping” sound. The cough can last for many weeks and can be worse at night.
- Some babies may not cough at all, but they can stop breathing completely and turn blue. Other babies may have difficulties feeding and can choke or gag.
- Older children and adults may just have a cough that doesn’t go away. In adults the cough commonly lasts 5-7 weeks, sometimes longer. They may not have the whoop.
- Some people will have milder symptoms, especially if they have been vaccinated.
- Symptoms usually appear about 7 to 10 days after contact with someone who has whooping cough.
If you or your child is unwell and you are concerned about whooping cough – please call our practice and our reception can arrange and appointment via telehealth or in our respiratory clinic (where we kindly ask you to wear a mask and wait outside or in your car until your doctor is ready to see you)
Call Triple Zero (000) or go to a hospital emergency department immediately if your child has difficulty breathing or turns blue.
STAFF NEWS
EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR AWARD
To acknowledge and reward our amazing team and the hard work they do, we vote for an ‘Employee of the Month’ . Team members nominate one of their colleagues and the staff member who gets the most vote wins pole position in our car park for that month. Our employee of the year goes to the team member with the most votes for the year. Our 2024 Employee of the year award goes to………………. Melissa Wall! Thank you Mel for your incredible efficiency, customer relations and being such a great support for all our staff.
CHRISTMAS DOOR COMPETITION
It’s that time of year again, and the annual YFD Christmas door decorating competition has begun. The competition is looking to be tight, with some very high quality entries appearing on our practice doors. Once all entries are in, we will publish them on our Facebook and Instagram page for all of our patients to put their vote in!
STAFF INCOMING AND OUTGOING
In February we will be saying farewell to much loved GP Registrar, Dr Renee Pope as she moves on to her next GP training rotation . We have enjoyed having Dr Renee work with us over the last 18 months and we wish her all the best with her upcoming exams. We look forward to welcoming our next GP registrar Dr Cindy Chen in February who will be working with us on Tuesday, Wednesdays and Fridays.
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OUR WONDERFUL PATIENTS!
STAFF CHRISTMAS PARTY 2024
So that’s it for our Christmas Newsletter. We hope you have an enjoyable Christmas and we wish you and your family a happy new year. Don’t forget to like us on facebook or instagram to keep up to date with the health information and to see what the YFD team has been up to. Our website is also a great source of information, so please check out our blog for health information written by our team. Stay well.
Love Team YFD xx
