Home, Hospital and Nursing Home Visits

7Springs Medical Practice is currently at capacity for Home Visits, Nursing Home Visits and Residential Aged Care facility Visits. 7Springs Medical Practice will not be accepting new patients requiring these services or patients transitioning to RAC Facilities, at this time. When our Doctors have capacity we will re-open our lists for these services.

Home and other visits such as visits to residential aged care facilities, residential care facilities and hospitals are available to regular patients of the practice where such visits are safe and reasonable and are clinically necessary.

There needs to be a direct continuing relationship between the practice GP(s) and those doctors who perform the home and other visits on their behalf, including services that provide care outside normal opening hours. This includes arrangements to exchange clinical details about patient care and any concerns the practice may have about the safety of a visiting GP.

General practitioners and other members of the practice team need to be able to describe the conditions under which a home or other visit is deemed appropriate. What is safe and reasonable should be considered by the practice in light of what peers or practices in the same area would agree was safe and reasonable.

Where safe and reasonable, our practice makes visits to regular practice patients in their homes, aged or residential care facilities, or in hospitals within and outside of normal working hours.  7Springs Medical Practice has decided upon a reasonable distance within which visits can be safely conducted is within the Toowoomba city boundary which is approximately 10 kilometres north and the Nelson St intersection on the highway to the South.

This service is for patients of the practice who are not able to access the general practice premises because transfer to the practice is too difficult or could cause harm. Patients in this category include people receiving end stage palliative care, people with severe motor dysfunction such as quadriplegia or motor neurone disease and residents of nursing homes.

Home and other visits are scheduled and confirmed by the patient’s treating GP through the appointment book.

If a patient requests an urgent home consult due to illness, we advise the patient to call an ambulance on 000.

Access to alternative sources of care

If it is not safe and reasonable to supply home visits to patients, our practice clearly documents the alternate system of care for patients who need this service. We provide care to our patients requiring home visits where it is not safe and reasonable by:

• Calling an ambulance
• Making arrangements for them to attend an accident and emergency department at St Vincent’s private hospital or the Toowoomba Base Hospital
• Follow up visit as soon as possible