Blackburn Clinic – providing support to a range of quality doctors to care for their patients.

Blackburn Clinic Medical Services provides administrative, business and clinical support to a diverse range of doctors, with a broad skill set and areas of expertise, who put the needs of their patients first.

News and information….

COVID Vaccinations

We expect to have Pfizer’s new monovalent XBB.1.5 vaccine available (for patients aged greater than 12 years) from 11th December 2023. COVID Vaccine appointments can be booked using the booking buttons above, via the app or by phoning the clinic. If you book your appointment for after 11th December, we expect to have the new vaccine available for you. Eligibility for individuals without risk factors is:

  • for ages 18-64, one 2023 booster dose should be considered, 6 months since last dose and since you had the disease.
  • for ages 65-74, one 2023 booster dose is recommended, plus an additional dose should be considered. 6 months since last dose and since you had the disease.
  • for ages 75 plus, one 2023 booster dose is recommended, plus an additional dose is recommended. 6 months since last dose and since you had the disease.

Practice Accreditation & Improvement Surveys

Blackburn Clinic (Suite 5) and Carson Suite (Suite 8) are both undergoing re-accreditation and patients may receive a text message in the days following a GP visit, requesting completion of a feedback survey. The online version takes about 5 minutes to complete and we sincerely thank those who can support our improvement journey by doing this survey. Paper versions will soon be available at reception for patients who prefer that method.

Shingles vaccination program – read eligibility criteria below first

There have been changes announced for shingles vaccinations under the National Immunisation Program (NIP), for the prevention of shingles and post-herpetic neuralgia. On 1st November 2023, the vaccine funded by the NIP changed from Zostavax to Shingrix.

SHINGRIX STOCK SUPPLY  – From 6 December we will make a Shingles Vaccine booking button available on the home page of our website, allowing patients to book directly into an appointment. As more stock becomes available we will open more Shingles Vaccine appointments.  We have now closed the Reservation List, and patients already on the list were notified by SMS, with a special link enabling them to book in.

HOW TO BOOK – from 6 December 2023

– READ THE ELIBIBILITY CRITERIA BELOW FIRST

– We will be running Shingles Vaccine clinics only on Sunday mornings, starting 26 November 2023. We won’t run them on Sun 24th or 31st Dec, but will resume on Sun 7th January subject to stock availability.

– via the app – just choose a ‘Shingles Vaccine’ appointment. Then select Appointment Type “Shingles Vaccine Dose 1”. If there are no appointments available to book, that indicates that we have allocated all our vaccine stock.

– online – from 6 December 2023, use the Shingles Vaccine booking button at the top of this page. Then select Appointment Type “Shingles Vaccine Dose 1”. Then choose ‘Make with a particular GP’ and select “Shingles Vaccine” as the GP.

– phone our friendly reception team on 9875 1123.

Anyone already on the Reservation List will receive an SMS with a specific link, or a phonecall from the clinic, allowing them to book an appointment once a vaccine dose has arrived and been allocated to them.

Second doses – we will automatically reserve Dose 2 for you once you’ve received Dose 1, and notify you after your Dose 1 appointment of your Dose 2 booking details.

ELIGIBILITY

Eligibility for the 2-dose course of Shingrix®, given 2-6 months apart in most cases, was updated on 8/10/2023 to include:

  • people aged 65 years and older
  • First Nations people aged 50 years and older
  • immunocompromised people aged 18 years and older with medical conditions including:
    • haemopoietic stem cell transplant
    • solid organ transplant
    • haematological malignancy
    • advanced or untreated HIV.               Immunocompromised people may need an Appointment with their GP to determine eligibility & timing of doses.
  • anyone who has received a Zostavax shingles vaccine in the past will need to wait 5 years from the date of vaccination before being eligible for a Shingrix. If in doubt, book an Appointment with your GP to determine eligibility and the timing of your doses. 
  • anyone who has had Shingles (the condition) within the last 12 months will need an Appointment with their GP to determine their eligibility and the timing of their doses.

In 2020 there were 4.2 million people in Australia aged over 65…. the Government won’t have that number of vaccines available straight away. This vaccination campaign is likely to take several years and vaccine stock is likely to arrive in dribs and drabs. Please be patient and understand that we will only be offering Shingrix vaccines to current patients and we will only be able to give a Shingrix vaccine to a patient who has Booked a “Shingles Vaccine” appointment type.

ONLINE APPOINTMENT BOOKING SYSTEM

Please use the ONLINE BOOKINGS menu options at the top of the page

or download the AMS Connect booking app:

Book ONLINE or through the AMS CONNECT app for the following appointment types:
  • Standard Consultation
  • Long Consultation
  • New Patient appointment (ages 0-15 yrs or Ages 16+)
  • Cervical Screening
  • Complete Health Check
  • Covid Vaccination
  • Phone Consult
  • Travel Consult
  • Video Consult
If the appointment type you need is not showing online, please phone us to book.  The app also allows you to perform telehealth appointments using video if desired.
Patient data is sensitive so every effort is taken to ensure that the booking and in-house patient data platforms comply with appropriate security and privacy standards.

FLU VACCINATIONS 

You can still access Flu vaccinations through Blackburn Clinic.

Please phone to book FLU vaccinations.

The flu vaccine is provided free of charge to those aged under 5 years (must be at least 6 months of age) and those 65 and over.  Patients aged 5 to 64 years may also be eligible for a free flu vaccine if they clinically fall within one of the categories that makes them more vulnerable to flu related complications.

For those who don’t meet the Government flu vaccine program eligibility, the flu vaccine attracts a fee of $20.

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Keep up to date with changes to vaccine programs, new services and changes to the practice.

TELEHEALTH

Telehealth consultations are billed at the same rates as face-to-face appointments. Please refer to the Fees Page.

CURRENT COVID PROTOCOLS

All patients regardless of vaccination status are welcome to attend for a face-to-face appointment. If you have any Covid related symptoms or are a close contact of a known case, please do a RAT on the day of your appointment and do not attend if the result is positive. We can change your appointment to a Telehealth if you phone to let us know. We thank you for your patience as we adapt policies in order to maximise protection for vulnerable patients and ensure that the business can remain open and staffed.

COVID-19 INFORMATION IN OTHER LANGUAGES

Please CLICK HERE to view information provided by DHHS about COVID-19, which is available in over 50 different languages.

Movember update – $3,686 raised so far

It's almost the end of the month, so we thought you'd want to see a pic of our team's Moustache progress! Here are Drs Yashar, Connoley and Qi sporting their 'taches! We are proud of the whole team for their activities (many preferred to Walk rather than grow facial hair!) and fundraising. There is still time to support Movember, who do great work for Men's mental health and suicide prevention, prostate and testicular cancer. Here's the link to our team page: https://au.movember.com/team/2299231

Movember fundraising for men’s health

The Blackburn Clinic Movember team are raising funds and awareness this Movember for all the dads, sons and mates in our lives. We need your help. Please donate to support men's health. Use the link below to find our Movember team page: https://au.movember.com/team/2299231

What is the Medicare Safety Net?

When you spend over a certain amount in a calendar year (1 Jan to 31 Dec) you qualify for a larger Medicare rebate. The Safety Net can help to lower your out of pocket costs. Click on the image above for more details.

Background

Blackburn Clinic Medical Services provides administrative, business and clinical support to the independent General Practitioners who consult from three suites within the same building at 195 Whitehorse Road. Patients are welcome to see the GPs at any of:

Suite 5—Blackburn Clinic             and
Suite 2– Blackburn Specialist Centre      and
Suite 8- Blackburn Clinic Carson Suite.

The same fees, policies and procedures apply to all suites. All sites have secure access to patient clinical data and share the same system for patient appointments. The following GPs consult at Blackburn Specialist Centre:

  • Dr Peter Elliott
  • Dr Elise Harrison
  • Dr Yeganeh Khavar
  • Dr Robert Rametta
  • Dr Prabaharan Ratnarajah
  • Dr Terence Ting.

The following GPs consult at the Carson Suite:

  • Dr Suzanne Ashdown
  • Dr Andrew Broad
  • Dr Sean Das
  • Dr Ann Donaghy
  • Dr Alvin Kong
  • Dr Peter Lovass.

All GPs consult at Blackburn Clinic when the other suites are closed. To make an appointment with any of the GPs please use the Book Appointment Online button or phone 03 9875 1123.

What to do After hours

When the Clinic is closed, the main clinic number (03 9875 1111) automatically diverts as follows:

Mon-Fri up until 11:00pm

Blackburn Clinic After Hours – a service provided by a Principal doctor who has access to your records and will contact you promptly.
Fees: $180 for telephone advice or $300 for a home visit.
Alternately, telephone 13 SICK Locum (13 7425).

Mon-Fri after 11:00pm

13 SICK Locum (phone 13 7425)

Weekends and public holidays

13 SICK Locum (phone 13 7425)

Alternatively you can  attend the Emergency Departments of Box Hill, Maroondah, or Knox Private Hospitals.

70 Years of Experience

Blackburn Clinic was established in 1952. For over 70 years high quality care has been provided to patients at the Blackburn Clinic premises. The GPs who consult at Blackburn Clinic are private billing:

  • Fully accredited General Practice
  • Comprehensive range of family medicine services
  • Licensed Travel Vaccination Centre
  • A medical training practice accredited with the RACGP.

The GPs at Blackburn Clinic can provide a variety of general practice services including:

  • Childhood immunisations
  • Diabetes care
  • Complete Health Checks
  • Health assessments for Over 75s
  • Aviation Medicals.
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ONLINE bookings can be made for a variety of appointment types, including Telehealth Phone consults. 

Phone and Video consults require a Credit Card to secure the booking.

If you have any cold or flu-like symptoms, please do a COVID Rapid Antigen Test on day of (face-to-face) appointment. If the result is positive please ring back for more instructions.

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