Information for parents

Appointment BOOKS ARE NOW CLOSED TO NEW DEVELOPMENTAL BEHAVIOURAL referrals for all doctors and REMAIN OPEN to new referrals with LIMITED appointment availability in 2024 for children up to 12 years only for Medical, sleeping, feeding and continence issues (details below).

Dr Rachel Noovao - accepting referrals for her new Sleep Clinic, Continence Clinic and Growth and Nutrition Clinic (ages 2-12 years).

Dr Helen Hall and Dr Samantha Williams - accepting referrals for Medical issues (from infancy to 12 years).

Dr Heidi Webster, Dr Megan Watson, Dr Jasmine Eldridge - appointment books are closed (as of 5 March 2024) currently to new Developmental and Behavioural referrals due to these Paediatricians being currently at capacity with existing and recently referred new patients.

In order to offer high quality and timely service to patients already referred and existing patients, the Paediatricians at the practice have currently suspended accepting new referrals for Developmental and Behavioural concerns. When booking availability for new referrals increases again, notifications will be made on the practice Facebook page and this website. 

WAITLIST information

Patients with a booking later this year or an accepted referral without a booking yet, PLEASE return Patient Registration form to the admin team asap to go on the waitlist for an earlier cancellation spot appointment offer.

How to make an appointment

A written, named (the name of the paediatrician you are to see) referral from your General Practitioner (GP), as this is your child's primary care provider, is required, for you to receive Medicare rebates for all Specialist consultations. This process also assists with the collaboration between your Paediatrician and your GP, providing continuing support to you and your child.

GP referrals are required for a Paediatrician appointment booking at this practice. Please arrange GP referrals via Medical Objects or Fax to us: (07) 5357 8759. Please note: bookings will not be made prior to receiving GP referrals, and each Paediatrician will triage their referrals and advise if accepted, and the schedule of appointments required depending on the referral question. 

Once referrals are received, the family will be notified by text regarding administrations' receipt of the GP referral, then if the referral is accepted, an administration team member will phone the parent to register the child and carer details and provide appointment options and further information. You will be sent an email containing information on your booked appointment(s), what to expect and bring to the appointment, and paperwork to be completed and returned to the clinic prior to your appointment.

If the referral is not suitable or is not accepted by a Paediatrician at this practice, the GP will be notified and the referral returned to the GP.

This practice is not a bulk-billing practice and private fees are charged by each doctor as independent service providers. New patients will be provided an estimate of fees for consultations when booking appointments.

Due to increases in costs all doctors have increased their fees from 1st Nov 2023.  Unfortunately Medicare rebates have not kept up with the costs of providing medical services. Please contact the friendly administration team if you require a quote prior to your consultation. 

We thank families for understanding that your consultation fees cover much more than your face-to-face time in appointments.

Please bring your child’s medicare card to your appointment.

Referrals

We require as a policy, that your child has a new GP referral each 12 months, in order to maintain Specialist-GP collaboration for maximising ongoing quality care, and to optimise the Medicare rebates for Paediatrician consultations that you may receive.

“Indefinite” GP referrals may restrict the Medicare rebates you can obtain during ongoing care of your child, and if your referring GP moves practices and/or their medicare referral code expires, your consultation may not be eligible for any medicare rebate. We are able to accept "Indefinite" GP referrals as long as families understand and take responsibility for ensuring the referral remains valid, in order to enable your Medicare claim to be processed. Please check with the reception staff if you are unsure when your child’s referral will expire.

Please note, another Specialist to Paediatric Specialist referral is only valid for 3 months, so if another Specialist refers your child, we will also request that a GP referral is provided, to enable you to access medicare rebates for ongoing care provided for your child by your Paediatrician.

If you are not eligible for Australian Medicare Benefits, or your referral has expired, you can still attend Paediatrician consultations without a current GP referral, however you will be liable for the full private fees cost of the service.

Read more information about Medicare Claiming >

Prior to booking an appointment it is strongly recommended that you read our policies regarding cancellation and non-attendance, privacy and respect for all.

What you need prior to your first appointment

• Your (parent/ caregiver) questionnaire completed
• School/ Early childhood teacher questionnaire completed
• Named referral to a Paediatrician from your General Practitioner / Doctor
• Relevant documents (please make copies of the important ones for us to keep)
  • Consultation Letters (e.g. Doctors)
  • Reports from Professionals (e.g. Psychologists, Therapists)
  • Pathology Reports (e.g. Genetic testing results)
  • Reports from School
  • If your child is currently seeing another medical specialist or allied health professional (e.g. Speech Pathologist), please ask for a brief summary of the current issues and plan.
  • Completed behavioural questionnaires if provided to you by the administration team in your booking email

You can scan and email these documents to us or you can bring them to your first appointment. Your paediatrician will aim to read through them prior to speaking with you. If documents are brought on the day, or you have a significant volume of documents regarding your child, this may done by your doctor during the first part of your consultation, before bringing you and your child into the consult room. This allows documents to be read efficiently in a quiet space.

Who should attend

For both initial visits it is requested that both parents/ primary caregivers attend (if both are involved in the child’s ongoing care). If this is not possible, we ask that both parents attend the second visit, or the feedback visit following an additional developmental assessment appointment, which is when the issues of concern are discussed, information regarding diagnoses and management options are shared, your specific questions can be addressed and treatment recommendations are made. Alternatively, if there are others (such as grandparents) who are closely involved as your important support people, they are welcome to be part of the conversation if that is appropriate for you.

If there are matters you wish to discuss without your child present, but it may be difficult for your child to be alone in the waiting room during this conversation, please bring somebody who can support your child during this time. Please see child minding information.

How to find the clinic

Please see the Our location page for our address, a map and directions.

Completion of Forms

Please Note: Appointments are devoted to the clinical care needs of your child and family. In general, your Paediatrician will not have time to complete additional forms or non-clinical administration tasks during your allocated appointment time.

If you need NDIS, Education Qld AARA, Centrelink forms etc.. completed, we will arrange for your doctor to do this in a separate appointment time, or non-clinical time at an additional charge. Charges for administration tasks including form completion will vary according to the time taken to complete. Administration staff can provide you with a quote for this activity, if required.

If an additional telephone review consult is required, for the doctor to obtain information to complete the form, there will be a medicare rebate available for the phone consultation.

Developmental / Behavioural Appointments

A number of appointments are scheduled at the beginning, for referrals which include developmental/ behavioural concerns. Please see 'Appointments' section on this website for more details.

Paediatrician Reports/ Letters

After the full assessment is completed, your paediatrician will complete a report of their formulation/ diagnosis and management plan, and provide this letter summarising the assessment findings and agreed plan, addressed to your referring doctor, with a copy also provided to you or whomever is identified as the child's parents or caregivers/ designated legal guardians. If there are court orders regarding the child's legal guardians, please advise the administration staff regarding the recipients of this report. In the case of separated parents with shared custody/ decision-making responsibilities for the child, we may be legally obliged to share the report with both parents, even if only one parent attended the consultations.

This report may be shared with other parties (such as school staff) if you and your paediatrician mutually agree. Special letters outside of this consultation report, written specifically for schools/ NDIS and other third parties, require additional work from your Paediatrician, and may incure a small further charge, depending on the nature and complexity of the letter required. You can discuss specific reports/ forms needed with your doctor and administration team, who can provide further information about whether additional costs will be incured for this extra service.