Qualitas Health has 31 medical centres across New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland who are moving their General Practitioner consultations to be conducted over the phone.

Managing Director Prashant Menon states “Our GP’s, nurses and practice staff are on the front line and to continue to provide our services in a safe environment for both our teams and patients we are moving all GP consults be carried out over the phone.”

“We hear the message about social distancing and we are evolving quickly to accommodate the changing needs and environments of our Patients.”

“It may become increasingly undesirable for patients to leave their homes for basic medical needs.”

“I believe that phone consultations will ease much anxiety for many. It enables GP’s to triage over the phone, only seeing patients at the practice where there is a clinical need and it is safe to do so.”

The Federal Government has included GP’s in the criteria for Telehealth consults to be bulk billed in a recent move, working in conjunction with advocates for the move RACGP.

“We encourage all patients wanting to make a booking to call our practices, and we are providing phone consults to all needing to speak to a GP, those who are Medicare-eligible and private.”

Less than two months have passed since Australia’s horrifying bushfire season, which saw both great heroism and patriotism as we stood together and battled our way through a national emergency. For months we choked in the smoke of the fires, feeling helpless as we watched our country burn. It seems only a few moments have passed of which to catch a breath, and we no longer stand together in the fight for our lives, but rather in the unfamiliar form of warfare through isolation.

In these uncertain times amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, authorities doing the best they can with the limited information as it becomes available, advise a new paradigm for the identity of Australians. This includes social distancing, prohibiting the customary handshake and closing public areas for social expression, including pubs, restaurants, cafes, gyms and spiritual houses. Those flaunting non-compliance forcing more salt in the wounds, provoking the closure of some of our most iconic beaches. As we quickly drift towards a crashing wave of pandemic proportions.

Mass hysteria has led to understocked supermarkets (and outhouses for that matter) and the fundamental ritual of sanitising or sudsing up hands is now enjoyed after all occasions keeping you busy for seemingly hours each day (if you are lucky enough to have a supply of soap that is). But to top it all off, the all Australian saying of “She’ll be right mate!” is no longer the socially acceptable way to handle feeling under the weather, you’re expected to crawl under a rock for two weeks and hope there is still a good (healthy) Samaritan or UberEATS driver around to drop in vital supplies.

So how do you know if the symptoms you’re feeling are indications of Coronavirus, the Flu or if it’s the everyday run of the mill cold?

We think this infographic put together by the Department of Health (and adapted by us) is a great way to differentiate between the symptoms of each and may save an unnecessary trip to the closest COVID-19 clinic.

We hope this information provides some understanding of how the virus’ presents and we’re just a phone call away to provide you with a suitable course of action in these times of uncertainty. If you’re feeling unwell or unsure if your symptoms could be the sign of something more serious, please contact your local Qualitas Health general practice to book a consult with one of our GP’s.

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Managing Director of Qualitas Healthcare Australia, Prashant Menon today announced – “All Qualitas Health General Practice sites are open, supporting the health of the community in the face of this growing pandemic.

Mr. Menon states, “The health of our patients and our staff is our utmost priority. Our experienced team of General Practitioners, Nurses, and Clinical Support Staff are working tirelessly across our 31 sites to meet the increasing demands brought about by Coronavirus.

“We will continue to operate our sites to a high standard, increasing hygiene measures in accordance with the Department of Health guidelines. We are taking strict measures to protect and minimise the risk of an unexpected transmission to a patient whilst in our practice. However, there may be the possibility with stringent controls in place in the interest of safety, patients and referrers may experience increased throughput times and slight delays in results.

“We have introduced Tele-health services and phone consultations at many of our practices to continue providing high-level healthcare to our community. Some practices may provide telephone only consults, others may be able to provide full telehealth services, and others may not be able to provide any assistance via this method at all for the time being. It is recommended that patients contact the practice directly to determine the availability of their GP to do phone consults.

“Now is a time where we all must remain vigilant and stay informed of developments as they evolve. The practice of social distancing and personal hygiene is something we can all do to help protect the health of those around us. All our practices display clear signage at the front windows, indicating that patients who meet the clinical and epidemiological criteria for COVID-19 refrain from entering the practice.”

Patients making an online appointment with us with HotDoc are instructed to call the practice if they have any of the COVID-19 criteria and are unable to make an online booking.

When a patient calls the practice, our staff will ask pertinent screening questions to patients before confirming any booking.

Patients that are either a confirmed case or meet the clinical and epidemiological criteria for COVID-19 and are a suspect case will be redirected to the appropriate public health testing facility from our practice.

We urge all patients to contact their local Qualitas Health general practice with any questions.

We are pleased to announce our newly designed website with a fresh new look, and user-friendly navigation. We hope that you will enjoy browsing our new site and find more options and information each time.