After Hours Support

Appointments:

Urgent / On the Day Appointments During Business Hours:

  • Staff at Don Medical Clinic will accommodate on the day appointments where possible
  • Unwell children are a priority and are always accommodated by the team
  • Unwell adults will be offered a telephone call at the every least but if triage assessments proves this is more urgent then an appointment will be made
  • outside the standard practice hours of 9 am - 5 pm -> see After Hours Care below.

After Hours Care:

Emergency or life-threatening care:

Emergency or life-threatening care requires immediate medical attention and management by an emergency department or hospital. Medicare UCCs do not provide emergency care.

Call triple zero or go to your nearest ED if you or a loved one has a life-threatening injury or illness. This includes:

  • chest pain or tightness
  • breathing difficulties
  • uncontrollable bleeding
  • severe burns
  • poisoning
  • numbness or paralysis
  • unconscious, unresponsive or having seizures
  • ongoing fever in infants.

-> call Tasmanian Ambulance Service - 000

-> Go to the Emergency Department

After Hours Telephone Advice call:

MEDICARE URGENT CARE CLINICS:

  • Devonport Medicare UCC - website link
    • Location: My Clinic Plus, 133 Steele Street
      • Opening Hours: Monday - Friday 2pm - 8pm,
      • Saturday/Sunday 2pm - 6pm

IF you attend the Urgent Care Clinic please encourage the doctor you are seeing to forward information to your health care home at Don Medical Clinic. A discharge/event summary of your visit notes should be sent to Don Medical Clinic - > reception@donmedical.com.au. This is essential to ongoing care, staff at Don Medical Clinic promptly follow up any Emergency or Urgent care visits that their patients have out of hours in order to provide consistent onoing care. (The ideal would be to also upload an event summary be uploaded to your My Health Record .)

What is urgent care and when should I attend a UCC?

Urgent care is when you need medical attention for an illness or injury that can be managed without a trip to the emergency department, but you are unable to access an ON THE DAY appointment at Don Medical Clinic and cannot wait for a regular appointment with a GP.

Medicare UCCs provide assessment, treatment and care for urgent but non-life-threatening conditions. This may include:

  • minor infections
  • minor fractures, sprains, sports injuries and neck and back pain
  • urinary tract infections (UTIs)
  • sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
  • stitches and glue for minor cuts
  • insect bites and rashes
  • minor eye and ear problems
  • respiratory illness e.g. asthma, croup and exacerbation of COPD.
  • gastroenteritis
  • mild burns.

If in doubt, call Healthdirect on 1800 022 222 or visit the Healthdirect website

General health care

Your local general practitioner (GP) should be your first point of contact for routine, preventative, and non-emergency health care.

Care provided by your local GP includes:

  • diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of diseases and illnesses
  • general screening and health checks
  • vaccinations and prescriptions
  • mental health advice
  • family planning advice
  • referrals for tests, scans or specialist care.

Medicare UCCs won't be able to see people for things like chronic disease management or preventative health procedures such as cervical screening tests.

What do you need to bring to a UCC?

If you have a Medicare card or number, bring this with you when you attend a Medicare UCC.

You can also bring any letters or correspondence from your GP and details of any medicines you are currently taking (including those without a prescription).

If you are attending a Medicare UCC for your child to receive medical attention, bring your child's personal health record (Blue Book).

My Health Record

With the diversity of services available for health care the primary responsibility for ongoing care remains with your general practice clinic.

Now more than ever communication between services is crucial. The Emergency Departments have worked hard to have prompt consultation summaries forward to patient's general practitioners. Urgent Care Clinics will be expected to offer the same timely service.

However, to facilitate good communication between all practitioners Don Medical Clinic encourages all of their patients to have a My Health Record that they and their primary practitioners can access. Up to date information can be provided by the GP, and this can be accessed by clinicians in Emergency Departments and Urgent Care Clinics.

Patients are encouraged to ask clinicians at Urgent Care Centres to arrange Event Summary uploads to their My Health Records. Both their GP and Emergency Dept Doctors can access this information for ongoing care be that by the GP or the Emergency Department.

For more information go to: MY HEALTH RECORD

Other services that might be able to help: