Obtaining an appointment: To obtain an appointment to see a Specialist, except after a hospital stay, you will need a referral from your General Practitioner (GP). Your GP must send the referral to Northern Health. The urgency of the referral will be determined by a senior staff member in the most relevant specialty, and an appointment or notification of the waiting time will be posted to you. If your referral is urgent, you may be contacted by telephone to arrange an appointment time.
If the referral does not contain enough information for the outpatient staff to determine the urgency, or if there is more that your GP can do to assist you before you see a specialist, the referral may be returned to the GP. The outpatient team will send you a letter to let you know that this has occurred.
Many of the Northern Health clinics are funded via the Medicare Benefits Scheme. Medicare requires a new/updated referral, from a GP, to be provided at regular intervals. Medicare will not pay for the service if the referral has expired. Therefore, failure to comply with the request for an updated referral may result in you being refused service or charged for the appointment.
Click below for information about:
Attending an Appointment at Northern Health Specialist Clinics
Cancelling or rescheduling your appointment: If you need to change or cancel your appointment please contact us via the link below:
Enquiries – Specialist Clinics
Alternatively, you can contact Specialist Clinics by phone on (03) 8405 8335
Our staff will assist you to cancel or change your appointment to a more suitable date. It is important to cancel your appointment with at least 24 hours’ notice as this also allows another person to have your unwanted appointment.
Changing Appointments: When cancelling an appointment, if you do not provide 24 hours’ notice you will be recorded as failing to attend the appointment and you may be discharged.
If you fail to attend two consecutive appointments without adequate reason or notice you will be discharged and no further appointments will be offered.
Interpreter Service: If you require an interpreter for your appointment, please ask your GP to clearly note this on your referral. If you are unable to attend your appointment and have an interpreter booked, please inform us at the earliest convenience so that this important service can be made available to another patient. For more information, please click here.
Radiology (X-Rays and Scans) and Pathology Services: These are private services located in the hospital. Tests are bulk billed. If there is to be any out of pocket expense to yourself, this will be discussed with you by the specialist referring you for the test.
Links:
For some clinics you may be requested to have specific pathology completed before attending your appointment. You will be advised if this is the case when your appointment is made.
Specialist Outpatients Clinic Locations:
Northern Hospital Epping– 185 Cooper Street, Epping
Broadmeadows Hospital – 35 Johnstone Street, Broadmeadows
Craigieburn –274 Craigieburn Road West, Craigieburn
Bundoora – 1231 Plenty Road, Bundoora
