consulting rooms and visiting specialists
Bairnsdale Regional Health Service proudly supports a wide variety of staff and visiting medical and surgical specialists to consult from our rooms, offering an excellent service to our community.
Making an Appointment
All specialist appointments must have a referral.
Your referring doctor will send your referral directly to us or provide you with a copy to arrange your appointment.
We are unable to schedule your appointment until we have a copy of your referral. This ensures we allocate the correct type of appointment for you.
Once we accept your referral, the Consulting Rooms administration team will contact you to arrange your appointment or advise that you have been placed on a waiting list. We will also send you confirmation of your appointment date and time.
The confirmation may have specific information regarding your appointment. It will be sent via SMS/text message to your mobile phone, or via email or post. If you have a preference, please discuss with our administration team.
If we do not have a valid referral for your appointment, the appointment cannot go ahead and will be rescheduled.
You cannot claim reimbursement from Medicare if you do not have a referral. Referrals may only be valid for a limited time.
If you haven’t heard from our team or you are concerned that we have not received your referral, please phone our administration team on 5150 3478 to check on progress.
Wait Times
Wait times for appointments can vary depending upon demand. Real-time waiting lists are as follows:
- Cardiology – 6 months
- Gastroenterology – 3 months
- Ophthalmology – 1 month
- Gynaecology – 3 months
- Nephrology – 3 months
- General Surgeon – 1 to 8 weeks depending on urgency
- Physician – 1 to 8 weeks depending on urgency
- Respiratory Physician – Telehealth clinic only, 6 months
- Rheumatologist – 6 months
If you are concerned about the wait time for your appointment, please talk to your referring GP about alternative options.
Bairnsdale Regional Health Service assesses referrals against the Victorian Department of Health state-wide specialist clinic referral criteria. You can view the state-wide referral criteria at https://src.health.vic.gov.au/.
BRHS Specialist Clinic
(no out-of-pocket fees)
Some specialists are employed by BRHS to provide clinics with no out-of-pocket fees.
In these clinics you may be seen as a public patient covered by hospital funding, or under Medicare as an MBS billable patient. If you attend as an MBS billable patient you must agree to a Medicare claim and show the receptionist a valid Medicare card.
BRHS Specialist Clinics include:
- General and Minor Surgery
- Gynaecology
- Physician
- Respiratory Physician
- Rheumatologist
If you do not have a valid Medicare card you may have to pay the whole amount for the consultation.
Please speak to reception staff if you do not have a valid Medicare card.
Visiting Private Specialists and other services
(may be an out of pocket fee)
Private specialist clinics are offered by visiting private consultants who set their own fees.
The following Private Specialists Clinics are offered at BRHS:
- Cardiology
- Gastroenterology
- Gynaecology
- Nephrology
- Ophthalmology
- Orthopaedic Surgeon
- Paediatric Surgeon
- Respiratory Testing
- Urology
- Vascular Surgeon
- Victorian Infant Hearing Service
You will be billed for your visit by the private consultants. BRHS may collect the fee on their behalf.
Stress Echocardiogram, Echocardiography and Holter Monitor Service are no longer conducted in the Consulting Rooms, and have moved to our Medical Imaging department.
For more information visit our Medical Imaging webpage.
Telehealth
Telehealth appointments are now offered in certain BRHS clinics and services.
The relevant specialist will determine if Telehealth is suitable for your care.
Consulting Rooms and Visiting Specialists
- Consulting Rooms
- consulting.rooms@brhs.com.au
- 03 5150 3478
- 122 Day St, Bairnsdale VIC 3875, Australia
