Practice Policies

Privacy Policy

RACGP-Patient-Privacy-Pamphlet 2026

This medical practice is committed to protecting your privacy and managing your personal health information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and the RACGP Standards for General Practices.

Pease find the link below to download our patient privacy and information collection notice:

Patient Privacy and Information Collection Notice

Why we collect your information

We collect your personal and health information to provide you with safe, high-quality healthcare. This includes assisting our clinicians to assess, diagnose, treat, and manage your health, as well as to support continuity of care.

If you choose not to provide relevant information, we may be limited in our ability to provide you with appropriate healthcare.

What information we collect

The information we collect may include:

• Identification and contact details (e.g. name, address, date of birth)
• Medical history, family history and clinical notes
• Medicare/DVA and health insurance details
• Test results, imaging and reports
• Information from other healthcare providers (e.g. specialist letters)
• Information gathered during consultations (including observations and conversations)

How we collect your information

We may collect your information:

• Directly from you (in person, phone, forms, online systems)
• From other healthcare providers involved in your care
• From third parties such as hospitals, pathology or diagnostic services

How we use and disclose your information

Your information will only be used or disclosed for purposes directly related to your healthcare or as permitted/required by law. These purposes include:

• Providing medical care and treatment
• Communicating with you (e.g. appointment reminders, recalls and results), including via SMS, phone, or other electronic means
• Referrals to other healthcare providers and sharing relevant clinical information
• Billing, Medicare claims and administrative functions
• Accreditation, quality improvement, risk management, and staff training (using de-identified information where possible)
• Mandatory reporting (e.g. notifiable diseases) and compliance with legal obligations
• Responding to subpoenas, court orders, or other lawful requests
• Research and teaching activities (only using de-identified information unless additional consent is obtained)

Communication and consent

By becoming a patient of this practice, you consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information as outlined in this notice.

You may:

• Opt out of receiving reminders or electronic communications
• Withdraw or modify your consent at any time (subject to legal or clinical limitations)
• Request that certain disclosures are restricted where possible

 Access and correction

You have the right to request access to your health information and to request corrections if you believe it is inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date. Requests should be made in writing to the practice. 

Data security

We take reasonable steps to protect your information from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. This includes physical, electronic and administrative safeguards. 

Overseas disclosure

In most circumstances, your information will not be disclosed outside Australia. If this occurs (e.g. secure IT systems), we will take reasonable steps to ensure your information is protected. 

Privacy concerns and complaints

If you have any concerns about your privacy or wish to make a complaint, please contact the practice. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

Interpreter Service

We understand that communication is key to good healthcare, which is why we offer translation services, including the Translating and Interpreter Service (TIS), National Relay Service (NRS, and National Auslan Interoreter Booking Service (NABS). If you require additional communication support, please let our reception team know at least 48 hours before you appointment.

Personal Health Information and Your Medical Records

Information collected may be used and disclosed for communicating relevant information with other treating doctors, specialists or allied health professionals. For follow up reminders/recall notices, accounting, Medicare, health insurance procedures, quality assurance activities such as accreditation, dustdisease notification as required by law (e.g. infection diseases), for use by all doctors in this practice when consulting with you, for legal related disclosure as required by court of law (e.g. subpoena, court order, suspected child abuse) and for research purposes (de-identified).

Dapto Medical & Family Practice Acknowledges all obligations regarding confidentiality as stated in the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000. Personal information collected by this practice, either through this form or the consultative process, will be used exclusively to achieve optimal health care for you. We may however be obligated to share this information with other health organisations for statistical or reporting purpose as considered necessary under the relevant legislation- Including but not limited to Medicare, Centrelink, RMS, EHealth (My Health Record), Australian Immunisation Register, Sentinel Practices Data Sourcing (SPDS). If you have any questions regarding privacy a copy of the guidelines is available at reception, or any of our staff would be happy to address any concerns you might have.

Recall/Reminder System

Why SMS?

As well as being a more environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional letters, SMS is more secure because you can only read the health message after verifying your personal information, and more reliable because messages have less chance of being lost.

What do I need to do?

When you receive an SMS, open the message and click on the secure link. You’ll be taken to a screen where you will need to verify your personal information, including your last name and date of birth. Once you have verified your identity you can read your recall health message. From here you can book your appointment for a time convenient to you.

Please note that you’ll need to be connected to the Internet, or have data on your phone, for the link to work. If your phone is connected to the internet and you still can’t access the link, please call us at (02) 4261 6888.

P.N. Recall/ Reminder letters will be sent to those patients who do not respond or have opted out of our SMS messenger system. Double click on text below to download the Patient Information Sheet on Recall and Reminders.

Appointment

Consultation is by appointment. Longer appointments are available on request. If more than one person from your family wishes to see the doctor at the same time, please ensure a separate appointment is made for each patient. Urgent cases will be seen on the day. Please notify us as soon as possible if you are unable to attend an appointment.

Our practice is excited to announce that we’re now using HotDoc to send out appointment reminders via SMS. This method is a more secure and reliable way to remind patients about their upcoming appointments.

When you receive a reminder by SMS, there are two ways you can confirm or cancel your appointment:

1. Click on the secure link, and follow the instructions
2. Or simply reply ‘YES’ or ‘NO’ to the SMS

Please do not reply with anything aside from a ‘YES’ or a ‘NO’, otherwise your reply might not be understood. Please also note that you do not need to phone us to confirm or cancel your appointment. If however, you prefer to speak to someone in person, feel free to phone us on: (02) 4261 6888.

URGENT APPOINTMENTS: If you require an urgent same-day appointment, please speak with our reception staff. Same-day appointments are available at the Doctor’s discretion. We strongly recommend calling first thing in the morning to give us the best chance of accommodating your request.  

Delays

We hope you understand that delays sometime occur due to unforseen circumstances which are beyond our control. At all times we endeavour to make your wait as short as possible.

Home Visits

Our practice is affiliated with the Illawarra Radio Doctor who attend to afterhours Home Doctor Visits for patients throughout the Wollongong and Shellharbour suburbs. Please phone the call centre on (02) 4228 5522 to arrange a booking. On urgent occasions Home Visits may be arranged with your Regular Treating Doctor.

After Hours

When you call 4261 6888 between 6:00pm and 8.00am a recording will give you a telephone number of the Wollongong Medical Service who will tend to your call. Illawarra Radio Doctor.

Availability of Doctors by Phone

Doctors in the practice may be contacted by the phone during normal surgery hours. If your call is urgent, it will be treated as such, and you will be put straight through to the Doctor or nurse for triage. When Doctors are with a patient, a message will be taken, and your call will be returned as soon as possible. Telehealth consultations are available at our clinic.

Repeat prescription and referrals

To ensure accuracy and avoid any confusion with medications, our Doctors generally need to see patients before issuing repeat prescriptions. All Doctors in this practice are highly competent in managing common health concerns. When required, they can seek specialist advice or refer you for further investigation. To help us process your request efficiently, please provide as much notice as possible.

Results

Due to confidentiality requirements, we are unable to provide detailed test results over the phone. We can let you know whether your results have been received, but we cannot discuss any further information until you have been reviewed by a Doctor. If you are calling to check whether your test results—or any correspondence from specialists or allied health professionals—have arrived, please phone between 11:30am and 2:00pm. All results are reviewed by a Doctor as soon as they are received. This process ensures accuracy and gives the Doctor time to assess your results properly.

Our practice uses secure mobile messages (SMS via HotDoc) to send appointment reminders and recalls / clinical reminders to patients such as skin checks, cervical tests and blood tests etc. If you require further information, please view our website or speak with reception.

Wheelchair access / parking

Wheelchair access is available at both the front and back entrances. We also provide designated disabled parking spaces for patients.

Aged Care facility

We visit selected local nursing homes and hostels. Please speak to your doctor for further information.

Immunisation

All doctors continue to keep up to date with all forms of immunisation requirements for babies, children as well as overseas travellers. We have a supply on hand of most vaccines you may require. Our registered nurses are well informed of immunisation requirements.

Fees

DMFP is a mixed Billing Practice. Out-of-pocket fees may apply for some services. Our copy of our fees list is available on our practice website under Patients > Fees & Charges menu. When attending our practice speak with our friendly reception staff for a fees list.

Patient Feedback

This helps us to improve our services to you.  From time to time this practice invites patients to complete a questionnaire on their views of the practice and how it could be improved. These surveys are completely confidential.

Medical Students

Our practice supports the training of future Doctors and nurses. At times, medical students from various universities and GP registrars completing their specialist general practice training may be involved in your care. All students and registrars work under the supervision of our experienced Doctors. If you prefer not to have a student present during your consultation, please notify reception before your appointment.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with any aspect of the care you receive at this practice, we want to hear about it. Your feedback helps us improve the services we provide. Please feel free to discuss any issues with your Doctor, or you can email the Practice Manager on reception@dmfp.com.au we also have a suggestion box placed on the front counter, where you are welcome to put your comments in.

We believe problems are best dealt within the practice. However, if you feel there is a problem you wish to take up outside, you may contact the NSW Government centre for handling complaints.

The address is:

 Health Care Complaints Commission

Locked Bag 18

Strawberry Hills NSW 2012

Tel: 02 9219 7444

Social Media

Dapto Medical And Family Practice/ Keiraville Surgery Does Not Participate or Use Social Media e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc.