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Unable to make a booking without a GP referral

Posted By angry bird

"Unable to make a booking without a GP referral"

About: Morawa Perenjori Health Service

(as the patient),

I rang the Morawa Hospital to make an appointment with the visiting Podiatrist due in a couple of weeks time. I was told I would need to go to the doctor to get a referral before they would even make the appointment.  Why is a referral required in this case?  

I work seven days a week in my own business in town.  If I could get away to Geraldton or Perth, I only need to ring a Podiatrist directly for an appointment.  By the way, our doctor is in town I believe on average, 3 weekdays a week. They go to Perenjori for a half-day clinic and spend the remainder of their time in Perth.

The town and hospital are without a doctor from Friday afternoon to Monday afternoon. The result of this is, patients must present at the hospital and wait for Tele-doctors for some hours, or drive to Geraldton (2 hours away).

I believe our volunteer ambulance service is required to frequently transfer patients who would otherwise be taken care of by the town doctor which, in my opinion, seriously stretches their resources.

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Responses

Response from Michele Young, REOC Lead, Executive Services, WACHS-Midwest 4 years ago
Michele Young
REOC Lead, Executive Services,
WACHS-Midwest

Submitted on 17/02/2020 at 1:26 PM
Published on Care Opinion at 1:32 PM

picture of Michele Young

Dear angry bird,

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience on Patient Opinion. I'm sorry that you have had difficulties in accessing a podiatry appointment. I know how difficult it can be to access medical appointments, particularly in your case when you work seven days a week. There are a couple of options in terms of accessing a podiatrist appointment and it appears they may not have been explained to you.

A private podiatrist visits Morawa regularly as part of the Integrated Chronic Disease Care (ICDC) program. This program is supported by WA Primary Health Alliance. To access the ICDC program, including Podiatry services, you can contact the Midwest ICDC Care Coordinator on 9965 0697. You will require a doctor's referral as it is a requirement of the program. More information about the ICDC program including contact details is available on their website https://managechronicdisease.com.au/.

Privately funded appointments may also be available and the provider for these is Ankle & Foot Health Group who can be contacted on 9965 4331. An appointment with Ankle & Foot Health Group will not require a GP referral.

If you would like an opportunity to further discuss your concerns please don’t hesitate to contact Aasta Abbott, Coordinator of Allied Health on 0418 745 780 or Aasta.Abbott@health.wa.gov.au or alternatively Di Franklin, A/Operations Manager Midwest/Murchison on Di.Franklin@health.wa.gov.au or 0417 980 835.

Thanks again for getting in touch, we really appreciate it. I hope this information will assist in making things a little easier for you in accessing the care that you need.

Kind regards,

Michele

Coordinator Executive Services

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Update posted by angry bird (the patient)

Thank you for your response Michele.

I was unaware that there are two types of podiatry services. I require a private appt, not chronic disease management.

Kind regards

angry bird

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