The Medical Service within the Health and Counselling Service provides a comprehensive range of general practitioner services for students and staff at the University of Canberra. The doctors have a special interest in student health, and have extra training in mental health, gynaecology, mens health, and travel health.

The following services are provided:

• General practitioner medical consultations for treatment of illnesses and injuries, and emotional difficulties
• Treatment of emergencies
• Sports medicine and treatment of sports injuries
• Routine medical examinations medicals and health assessment medicals eg cholesterol, blood sugar,and blood pressure
• Injuries at work
• Contraceptive advice and advice on sexually transmitted infections / Pap smears / breast examinations
• Pregnancy tests
• STD screening
• Condoms
• Minor surgery (eg removal of skin lesions and suturing)
• Immunisations eg Hepatitis B, Tetanus boosters.
• Travel vaccination and information service
• Skin examinations
• Dressings, cuts, burns
• Treatment of fractures
• Lung function tests
• Hearing tests, ECGs
• Blood tests eg cholesterol, AIDS, Hepatitis B, and Blood glucose level
• Referral for X-rays and to medical specialists, hospital referals
• Routine and special vaccines for students undertaking courses with occupational exposure to infectious diseases

General information

Payment

• Medical services for Australian UC students are bulk billed through Medicare.

• International Students, in most instances will be charged the Medicare bulk-billing rate.  For holders of OSHC Worldcare or OSHC Medibank Private, medical services will be billed directly to the insurance provider. Holders of OSHC insurance from other providers, will need to pay for their medical services at the time of consultation, and then claim their rebate from their insurer.
  

• Rates for non-students and staff will vary according to the situation, complexity, duration of the consultation and the Doctor seen, but lie within the range of:

*Fees as at 1/06/2011

• University staff are given a discount on the standard private medical fees.

• Fees for other services are available on request. Please ask at the Reception Desk for more information. Difficulties in payment should be discussed with the consulting doctor before the consultation. Please ask at the Reception Desk for more information on fees.

• Counselling services through the Health and Counselling Centre are provided for UC students only and are free.

• Staff are also seen in Workers Compensations matters.

*The medical practitioners offer clinical services from rooms in the Health Centre and do so as private practitioners not as employees of the University.

Health Insurance - It is essential that all Australian students have a Medicare number. UC students are bulk-billed for medical consultations. Australian students not dependent on their parents and earning low incomes may be eligible for a Health Care Card. This card also entitles the holder to cheaper Government subsidised medicines. More information and application forms for Health Care Cards are available from Centrelink.

All international students are required to have Overseas Student Health Insurance - OSHC (for example, OSHC Worldcare, or OSHC Medibank Private). Proof of currency of insurance (membership card) must be presented at every visit to the Health and Counselling Centre.

Confidentiality - The Health and Counselling Centre provides an ethical and confidential service. Your medical and counselling records are confidential documents. It is the policy of this practice to maintain security of personal health information at all times and to ensure that this information is only available to authorised members of staff. The University does not have access to Health and Counselling Centre records. The Health and Counselling Centre will not release any information pertaining to patients/clients to family, friends or the University without the patient's/client's prior specific written consent. For information about the ACT Health Privacy and Access Act (1997) and how it relates to your health and or counselling information please ask our staff.

Hours - The Health and Counselling Service is open Monday - Friday, 9am to 5pm (with the exception of public holidays and official University shut down periods i.e. Christmas to New Year) and provides a year round service. Home visits can be arranged when necessary, but please keep them for urgent cases as the doctors are much better equipped to examine and treat problems in the surgery setting. When the Centre is closed, one of the doctors will be on call to handle urgent medical problems. The after hours phone number of the doctor on call can be obtained by phoning the Health Centre on 6201 2351 and listening to the taped message.

Appointments to see the doctors - Appointments are essential (except in emergencies) to see the doctors, and are normally made at 15 minute intervals. To encourage continuity of care we also suggest that you request your preferred doctor at the time of booking your appointment. Certain consultations are best dealt with by a longer appointment. These include consultations for more complex problems or multiple problems, medical examinations, taxi medicals, driving medicals, medical procedures, or if there is more than one person seeing the doctor, eg. if you are bringing your partner or child/ren. If you feel that you may need a longer appointment please discuss this with Reception staff at the time of booking your appointment.

Our practice classifies patients seeking or presenting for medical consultations according to their priority of need; thus patients with urgent medical problems may be triaged and seen as a priority. Medical attention is also provided for emergencies in the Centre and on campus at short notice. Whilst every effort is made by Health Centre staff to keep to appointment times, delays are sometimes unavoidable. If you have been waiting for more than 20 minutes, or if you are unable to wait, please speak to the reception staff.

The University of Canberra Health and Counselling Service is committed to providing patients and clients with the highest standard of care. Part of this involves a recall and preventative health care reminder system. In order that we may provide this service to you we ask that you notify Reception staff of any changes in your personal details eg. address, phone numbers etc. For more information on this service, please ask our staff.

Pathology - If you have had any pathology taken (for eg. blood tests, Pap smear, urine test), done on your doctors advice, please ensure that you have been informed of the result. In case we need to contact you, please make sure that your contact details are current and correct.

If you have not been requested to make a follow-up consultation by your doctor, then please ring the Health Centre in a week to obtain your results and any follow-up advice from the doctor you consulted.

Medical Imaging (Xrays, Ultrasounds, CT scans) - The doctors may refer you to have medical imaging performed at the local hospital, or imaging company. Please ensure you make a follow-up appointment to discuss the results with the doctor. 

Messages for doctors and counsellors To maximise the quality of your consultation/appointment, doctors and counsellors will not usually be available for telephone contact during consulting hours. However, a message may be left, and if appropriate, they will return your call. It will assist if you could provide the reception staff with some information regarding the nature of your inquiry and its urgency. If you feel that the matter is urgent, please ask to speak to one of the Registered Nurses.

Children - There is a selection of books in the waiting area for children to read. We ask that parents please keep children under their supervision at all times whilst in the Centre. If you should need to change or feed a baby/child, please let the staff know and they will show you to one of our Rest Rooms.

Compliments/complaints - Should you wish to make any compliments or offer any suggestions as to how we can improve our services, please speak to the Director, Dr Jenny Weekes. If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of the care that you have received at this Centre please let Dr Weekes know. If your concerns are not resolved you can then contact the Commissioner for Health Complaints by phoning 6205 2222.

Contact us

Phone: 02 62012351
Fax: 02 62012352
AskUC