General Practice - Cardiff Site Only

Our books are closed to New Clients

ATUNE Medical aims to provide high quality medical care to the local community. To do this we will endeavour to provide best practice clinical applications tailored to the individual needs of our patients and families.

ATUNE Health Centres, have provided integrated health care to Newcastle for over 10 years. We have a very experienced medical team with over 30 years of experience who appreciate that you need time to address your concerns.

On Arrival

If you arrive for your appointment and think you require urgent assistance (chest pain, difficulty breathing, dizziness or severe pain) or you believe you may be contagious (flu, gastro, rash) please advise our reception staff immediately.

Surgery Hours

Monday to Friday: 8.30am-5.30pm
Saturday: 9am-12noon (by appointment only)

Telephone Hours

The telephone lines are open between 8.30am and 5.30pm Monday to Friday, and Saturday 9am to 12noon. For assistance with bookings and enquiries please call 02 49544511 during these hours.

After Hours

IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING A MEDICAL EMERGENCY, PLEASE CALL 000 IMMEDIATELY.
If we are closed and you have a medical problem that cannot wait until the next working day, please phone NEWCASTLE AFTER HOURS MEDICAL on 02 4943 6666.

Appointments

We encourage you to book with your usual doctor whenever possible to maintain continuity of care. For your benefit, we ask you to book a longer consultation if you have more than one issue to discuss.

Appointment bookings by phone (02 4954 4511) or through the ATUNE website.

On the day appointments are available each day for urgent health problems

Home visits may be provided at the discretion of the attending doctor. Home visits are reserved for frail or elderly patients and are not intended to provide emergency or after-hours care.

Missed appointments may be charged a non-Medicare rebate able fee if not cancelled no later than the day before the appointment is due.

Test Results will normally be discussed at a follow up appointment. In the event of a clinically significant result, you will be contacted by the practice.

If you have tests at a hospital or with other doctors, please ask them to send a copy of the results to your GP.

Prescription and Referrals – please ask for these during your regular consultation as phone requests at a later time may not be able to be provided in a timely manner.

Email Patient consults are not done by email.

Telephone consultations may be done at the doctor’s discretion by prior appointment.

Our Fees

ATUNE Medical is not a bulk billing practice. We are a private billing practice and fees are payable at the time of the consultation. We may be able to process a rebate from Medicare at the time of payment.

The fees are listed below. The fee may vary according to the length and complexity of the consultation.

Consultation - Private

Level A 5 min Brief Consultation $50.00
Level B 6 -19 min Standard Consultation $95.00 - $105.00
Level C 20 – 39 min Long Consultation $165.00 - $205.00
Level D 40 – 59 min Prolonged Consultation $210.00 - $275.00
Level E 60min+ Prolonged Consultation $260.00 - $350.00

All appointments must be paid for at the time of service. We accept cash, EFTPOS, Visa and Mastercard. Credit card telephone payments are also accepted. We have Easyclaim which allows immediate payment of your Medicare rebate into your debit account.

Please ask Reception if you have questions about fees.

Our Services

ATUNE offers a range of medical services for all ages and varied health needs.

Acupuncture
Antenatal Care
Asthma management
Care Plan arrangements
Cervical Screening
Chronic Disease Management
Diabetic Clinic
ECG
Immunisation
Indigenous Health
INR
Mens’ Health and Sexual Dysfunction
Nurse Services
Pre-Employment Examination
Skin Cancer Checks and Surgery
Vaccination
Weight Loss / Control Advice
Womens’ Health
Workers Compensation
Wound Management
45 and 75 Year old Health Check
4Cyte Labs Pathology

Privacy

ATUNE Health Centres have developed a privacy policy in compliance with the Australian Privacy Act Principles 2014 in all areas relating to patients’ personal information

All staff, including administration staff, respect your privacy and keep your health information confidential at all times. Your health record is a confidential document and it is the policy of the practice to maintain the security of all health information always.

A copy of our privacy policy is available at reception on request.

Reception staff have been advised by the doctors and are experienced in helping you to decide whether a matter requires an appointment, a return phone call, or urgent immediate attention.

Unfortunately, Doctors are rarely available for conversation outside of a booked appointment time. So you will be asked to leave a message with Reception. Rest assured that any message you leave for your doctor is passed on immediately via the electronic messaging system so there is a record. If you find you have not heard anything back you are better off making an appointment, than making further phone attempts.

Our doctors do not respond to client email enquires/messages.

Our Facebook page is for information purposes only. Requests for care or details relating to care should be directed to the clinic by phone during business hours.

A guaranteed way of getting a response from a doctor is to make an appointment with them and speak to them face to face.

What sets ATUNE GP’s apart?

Everything under the one roof

Holistic approach

Longer consultation times

Clarity of care

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First in the Hunter

In a first for the Hunter we have launch the first interdisciplinary GP in our region. You can now be confident that you will receive continuity of care for your condition far beyond just the appointment session. Our medical service provides:

Immunisation
Preventative care
Chronic disease management
Minor skin excisions and procedures
Travel health
Men’s and women’s health
Skin cancer checks

Mental health
Musculoskeletal medicine
Dietetics
Paediatrics
Geriatrics
Antenatal care

Our convenient location makes us easily accessible to those living or working in the Lake Macquarie region including Tingira Heights, Cardiff, Boolaroo, Speers Point, Argenton, Croudace Bay, Eleebana, Mount Hutton, Booragul, Macquarie Hills and Lakelands.

Characteristics of General Practice

Person central

General practitioners understand that health, illness and disease are ultimately personal experiences, and that their principal role is to relieve personal disease in all its forms, in the manner best suited to each individual. The client’s needs, values and desired health outcomes always remain central to the general practitioner's evaluation and management processes.

Interdisciplinary

A medical doctor who works with a diverse range of health professionals in a coordinated fashion towards a common goal for the client.

Continuity of care

Long term relationships build mutual knowledge, understanding, and trust: all essential elements in a therapeutic relationship which generates the potential for healing, empowerment and beneficial change.

Comprehensiveness

General practitioners are not limited by age, gender, body system, disease process or service site. The scope of clinical practice is challenging, spanning prevention, health promotion, early intervention for those at risk, and the management of acute, chronic and complex conditions within the practice population.

Whole person care

Appreciation of the interplay between bio-psycho-social-lifestyle contributors to health leads to a deep understanding of the whole person, and the ability to manage complex conditions and circumstances. The general practitioner functions as a physician, counsellor, advocate and agent of change for individuals, families and their communities

Diagnostic and therapeutic skill

General practitioners' high level diagnostic and therapeutic skills applied within continuing relationships deliver cost effective care that is highly valued by clients.

General practice is a unique discipline. Rigorous medical training and the ability to apply the evidence appropriately in community settings, places general practice is an integral part of an effective primary health care system. These same qualities – when combined with the discipline's holistic, relationship based philosophy and broad generalist practice, ensure that individualised, client centred care is achieved.

What is a General Practitioner (GP)?

What is an Interdisciplinary GP?

A medical doctor who works with a diverse range of health professionals in a coordinated fashion towards a common goal for the client. At ATUNE, there is no one profession or professional that is more important than the other we all have a place in the health journey of our clients.

Our interdisciplinary GP plays a critical role, in the health journey of you, our client. They appreciate and understand that there is a wide scope of care available, and will work together with providers of lifestyle medicine, allied health and specialist care for the benefit of you the client. We understand that, very often, 2, 3 or even 4 heads are better than 1 and that most health professions have a valuable part to play in the landscape of healthcare. Therefore, our GP’s will work very closely with you the client and when necessary other health professionals in the city or at ATUNE to ensure the best health outcomes for you.

This is what we call interdisciplinary care.

At ATUNE the GP:

Plays an integral part in the diagnosis and management of personal health matters
Coordinates the care of clients and refers clients to other health professionals as appropriate
Cares for clients in a whole of person approach and in the context of their work, family and community
Cares for clients of all ages, both sexes, children and adults across all disease categories
Cares for clients over a period of their lifetime
Provides advice and education on health care, or referral for these services
Performs legal processes such as certification of documents or provision of reports in relation to motor transport or work accidents

Training

General Practice is a medical speciality. Entry to the speciality may be achieved by the admission to Fellowship of the RACGP.

Fellowship entitles a GP to practice unsupervised anywhere in Australia, and to access a specialist rate of remuneration under Medicare, the Australian health insurance scheme. Most doctors will need to undertake the College assessments to achieve Fellowship.

Do I need a referral to see a GP?