Patient information
What is a Dermatologist?
A Dermatologist is a medical specialist who has been rigorously trained in the diagnosis and treatment of skin, hair and nail conditions, and in the early detection, management, and prevention of skin cancer.
It takes a minimum of 12 years training to become a Dermatologist. A doctor must first complete medical school, then spend several years working as a junior doctor in the public hospital system before applying for the highly-competitive Dermatology training program. If selected, they must then complete the intensive four year Dermatology specialty training and pass the Fellowship examinations to become a fully qualified Dermatologist, accredited to practice in Australia. They will have ‘FACD’ listed after their name, indicating that they are Fellows of the Australasian College of Dermatologists.
Other non-specialist practitioners may refer to themselves as ‘skin cancer doctors’ or ‘skin specialists’, which can be misleading. When choosing a skin specialist make sure that they are indeed a fully qualified Dermatologist. Look for FACD listed after their name and visit the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA) website to check they are a registered specialist.
Do I need a referral?
No, you can book an appointment without a referral, but a valid referral from a GP or another specialist enables you to claim a Medicare rebate ($78.05 rebate for an initial appointment and $39.25 rebate for a review appointment) or DVA payment for your consultation. It also means that your GP will be kept informed of your diagnosis, treatment plan and progress. A referral from your GP lasts for 12 months and a referral from another specialist lasts for 3 months. In the interests of best practice and patient safety, we do not accept indefinite referrals - a yearly referral from your GP ensures that we have the most up-to-date information on your other medical conditions and medications. Please note that we do not provide Work Cover consultations or assessments.
Can I claim on my private health insurance?
Unfortunately, no. Due to federal legislation, private health insurers are only allowed to cover your medical expenses when you are admitted to hospital. They do not reimburse you for specialist medical consultations or procedures performed outside of hospital.
How long is your waitlist?
Many Dermatologists in Queensland have long waitlists, which can be frustrating when you have an itchy, painful or disfiguring skin condition, or a skin cancer than needs to be treated as soon as possible. We work hard to keep our waitlist as short as possible. We also keep appointments available for GP-referred urgent cases, such as patients with melanoma.
Your appointment
On the day of your first appointment, we kindly ask that you arrive 5 - 10 minutes early to complete the new patient registration process.
Please bring:
Your referral (if you have one)
Your medicare card
Any relevant investigations and results
A list of any previous creams or medications that you have tried for your skin condition
The time allocated for a standard consultation is usually sufficient to address one skin concern or a full body skin check only. If you have multiple skin concerns these cannot always be addressed during the same consultation and may require a separate appointment. Consultations that run beyond the standard appointment time may result in an extended consultation fee.
Cancellation policy
You will receive an SMS or phone call 2-3 days prior to your appointment to confirm your attendance. Due to the demand for appointments, if we do not receive a reply within 24 hours your appointment may be cancelled and offered to another patient on our waiting list.
If you no longer require your appointment please call to let us know. A fee of $100 may be charged for missed appointments or cancellations with less than 48 hours notice, barring exceptional circumstances. In most cases a replacement appointment will not be offered for missed appointments without notice.
Telehealth consultations
We offer telehealth consultations (for new and review appointments) for those who are unable to, or prefer not to, attend the clinic. These are available to local, regional, and interstate patients. We do not offer telehealth consultations to overseas patients. Please be mindful that sometimes a telehealth appointment is not appropriate and you will need to be seen in person (e.g. for skin cancer or mole checks). Our reception staff will assess the suitability of a telehealth consultation for your skin concern at the time of booking.
Professional fees policy
Every effort is made to ensure that our fees are fair and transparent. We do not receive any government funding, incentives or grants. We are a private billing practice - i.e. we do not bulk bill, as Medicare rebates are not adequate to provide you with high quality healthcare and cover the running costs of the practice. All consultations and procedures will involve out-of-pocket costs except for DVA cardholders. We regret that we are unable to offer discounts to pensioners and Healthcare cardholders. Our receptionists will advise you of the likely out-of-pocket cost of your appointment at the time of booking. All payments must be settled on the day of your consultation or treatment. Accepted methods of payment are cash, Visa/MasterCard debit cards or credit cards. Please note that unpaid debts may be referred to a professional debt collection service.
If you are not in the position or would prefer not to pay private consulting and treatment fees, please let your referring doctor know as you can be referred to a public hospital dermatology clinic. The waiting list for appointments at public clinics tend to be substantially longer and you are unable to choose your treating doctor.
If we’re running late
We understand that your time is valuable and we make every effort to run on time for your appointment. Unfortunately, as is the nature of medicine, sometimes an emergency, urgent procedure, or another complex issue will arise that takes up more of the doctors’ time than was allocated. If your appointment is delayed, we thank you in advance for your understanding and will endeavour to see you as soon as possible.