FAQ

No you don’t. Your new referral is transferrable, up until your first visit, to any qualified gastroenterologist. Sometimes one of the Gastroenterologists will have a particular expertise regarding the issue you have been referred for or may have an appointment available earlier. Our staff will discuss these options with you when booking your first appointment. Once your referral has been used it is no longer transferable and you would require a new referral to see another gastroenterologist.

Make sure your referral has been sent to our office. One of our staff will contact you to explain your options.

If you have Private Health Insurance coverage that permits admission to Maryvale Private Hospital then you can have your procedure there. You will be booked in for an appointment to see one of our Gastroenterologists who will book your date when speaking to you

If you do not have Private Health Insurance or do not wish to have the procedure done at Maryvale Private then you have two options.

You can be seen one of our Gastroenterologists prior to being placed on the waiting list for a public procedure at Latrobe Regional Hospital. The length of time it will take for you to get a date for the procedure will vary dependent on the urgency of your issue and the current level of demand. This service is covered under Medicare.

West Gippsland Endoscopy Service provides Gastroscopies and Colonoscopies under a fee for service arrangement. You can be booked directly in for your procedure if you meet the requirements. You can talk to our staff about this option or contact West Gippsland Endoscopy centre directly on 03 5623 0868.

We’re sorry you haven’t been able to talk to us; we are a small office and can sometimes be very busy taking and returning calls. We will call you back if you leave a message on our service.

Our telephone system does not record your phone number automatically so please be sure to leave your name and a correct contact number clearly.

Our staff can also be contacted via info@gippslandgastro.com.au

If it is an emergency please call 000 or attend the Emergency Department at your nearest Hospital.

If it is not an emergency but still urgent, please go back to your General Practitioner who can assess the new issues.

You can also call and discuss the issue with our Office Staff though most often they will recommend one of the above two options for you.

Our staff have specific criteria by which to change appointments and may ask you questions about your issue to assess your situation. Your call will be noted in your file and in some cases a request for a more urgent appointment or for further advice will be passed on to your gastroenterologist.

Our Gastroenterologists and Dietitians do not provide paediatric gastroenterological care so only patients aged 16 and over will be booked in.

While Breath testing can be performed on children it will generally only be performed on a child under 12 if specifically requested by a Medical practitioner or a Dietitian.

For Paediatric gastroenterologists contact:

Please send another referral stating the reasons for a more urgent appointment. Otherwise call our office on 03 5174 2988 and discuss the matter with our Staff. Our staff may try to bring an appointment forward or will send a message to the relevant Gastroenterologist for advice.

If you need to speak to one of our Gastroenterologist then you will need an appointment. Our office staff can send a request for information to your gastroenterologist if it is an urgent matter. You will be provided with standard information by our staff and will be asked to provide details regarding your issue.

Our staff will forward your information on in an appropriate form and record the request on your file. Our Office staff will contact you with any response concerning your issue provided by your Gastroenterologist.

You can send an email request for information to our office via info@gippslandgastro.com.au and it will be attended to by our staff. Please do not send urgent request via email, the email address is only monitored during business hours when the office is open.

If it is an urgent matter please call the Latrobe Regional Hospital 03 5174 8000 and request to have Dr Rong paged. Otherwise please call our office staff on 03 5174 2988 and they will pass on your request.

Our office staff only provide results for Hydrogen/Methane testing to patients. In all other matters you will be required to attend an appointment to get results through this office.

Often the General Practitioner that referred you is linked in to receive copies of results so you may be able to access them through a visit to your GP. Our office staff can inform you if the results are in and arrange for reports to be forwarded to your Medical practitioner at your request.

Your appointment has been scheduled based on the information provided by your referring medical practitioner and assessed by our Gastroenterologist as being non-urgent.

If you believe that there was insufficient information regarding your issue on your referral then we would suggest that you contact the practitioner who prepared your referral to discuss the issue.

You can also request to speak to our Practice Manager who can discuss the issue with you.

No. For general prescriptions you should see you general practitioner. For complex drugs prescriptions you will need to book an appointment to see your Gastroenterologist.

Our computer system will automatically tell us if your referral will be expired when we book your next appointment. We will write a reminder for you to get a new referral on your appointment card.

No. You will need a new referral.

General practitioners are not permitted to back date referrals so our office staff can only attempt to arrange an appointment with your general practitioner for you to get a new referral that day but all costs for that appointment will be yours and in general it is extremely difficult to arrange.

Our staff will arrange another appointment for you unfortunately it may take more than a month to reschedule.

Please bring the original copy of your referral if you have it along with any test results that are relevant. Please bring your relevant Medicare, DVA gold, Private Health Insurance, Pensioner and/or Concession Card/s.

You can call your previous specialist or your GP’s office and ask them to send your Medical records or talk to our staff who can arrange a request for medical records letter for you to sign.

Our staff will be happy to transfer your medical records upon request. We just require proof of your identity or a written request.

You can talk to a Gastroenterologist however it will need to be at an appointment. Our Gastroenterologists are not available for phone conversations.

In order to pass on relevant and specific information regarding any questions or requests you may have for your Gastroenterologist, our office staff may ask you quite detailed questions regarding your current issue. They do this to ensure that the Gastroenterologist can assess the situation and provide the most accurate advice on any course of action required.

Our staff are highly experienced and are bound by the same confidentiality requirements as our medical staff. They are very familiar with the types of issues our patients face and trained to ask specific questions to determine the correct steps to take to assist our patients gain the services they require.

You are not obliged to provide any information to our staff. If you choose not to talk to our staff, we suggest that you raise the issue with your General Practitioner and have him/her contact your Gastroenterologist; otherwise it is very likely that your issue will not be addressed until your appointment.

Contact our office staff and we will arrange for another to be prepared. It can take up to a week to have a new request sent out so please have a good search for the old one before you contact us.

While you do not need a referral we strongly suggest that you get your medical practitioner to send us all relevant information regarding your condition prior to an appointment. Payment will be at a Private rate.

If you have travel insurance you may be required to have a referral. Please check with your Insurance company prior to booking your appointment.