Our Appointments Policy
We can receive completed Referral
Forms from any registered medical practitioner to either referrals@nelsoneeg.net or by fax to
03 974 9830.
Once we receive the completed and authorised Referral Form (available here), we will
attempt to contact the patient by telephone using the provided number.
Once we contact the patient we will arrange a
mutually convenient appointment date/time, giving full regard to the Clinical
Urgency indicated on the form. We will obtain a valid email address from the
patient and then send a full appointment letter as a .pdf
attachment. Where an email address is
not available, we will post the appointment letter.
If the call is answered by voice-mail and the
patient identifies themselves by name, we will leave a brief message explaining
the purpose of the call and asking that they call us back. Once they call us
back, we will obtain a valid email address from the patient and then send a
full appointment letter as a .pdf attachment.
If the call is answered but the announcement does
not identify the patient, we will not leave a message.
If the patient does not call us back within 48
hours, we will make further attempts at calling.
If after eight attempts, we have been unable to
speak to the patient (or their guardian/carer), we
will post an appointment letter to the provided patient address. This
appointment may not be within the requested urgency timeframe as we will need
to allow up to two weeks between the appointment issue date and the appointment
actual date.
If the patient does not keep the agreed appointment
and does not notify us or change the appointment at least 48 hours prior to the
appointment, we will notify the referrer and advise that no automatic second
attempt will be made. If the investigation is still required and the patient is
then willing to provide an assurance that they will attend, the referrer should
then re-refer and we will start all over.