The Bendigo Medical Centre
is an accredited Practice.
Reception & Administration
The Practice manager
Accounts manager and assistant
4 Reception Staff
Our reception area has been designed with
patient and staff comfort in mind. The four independent stations
provide both privacy and staff security. Each station has its own
computer, printer, cash register, EFTPOS facility and headset
telephony, ensuring efficient service delivery.
Behind
reception are the Practice Manager’s office, and a dedicated accounts
area with one full time Accounts Officer, whose responsibilities
include patient accounts, corporate invoicing, payments and receipts.
The Practice Manger has a business background and runs the Practice as
an efficient profitable organisation, with the view of maximising
returns to the practitioners and the practice. The adoption of new
Government-funded health priorities utilizing specialized nursing
staff and efficient management systems has improved financial returns
and improved service delivery by the medical practitioners to their
patients.
Patient
Facilities
A clean, modern waiting room, with a TV and children’s area, makes the
wait for the doctor as pleasant as possible.
The Medical
Department
The clinic has the capacity for 8 full time doctors. Currently we
have both full time and part time General Practitioners as well as
one part time Gynaecologist. The general practitioners
each have their own particular fields of interest, including
anaesthesia, travel medicine, industrial health, minor surgery,
diabetes and geriatrics.
There are 7 consulting suites identical in design, with an alcove
providing light and fresh air and one “multi-purpose” consulting
suite. All suites are individually
air-conditioned. Both the door to the alcove and overhead windows
can be opened. Different colour schemes and themes in the alcoves
provide a different character for each room.
Each
consulting room has a modern computer system running medical software
(Medical Director), appointment and billing software (Zedmed) and
typical software for a small business environment. Two dual-bin laser
printers stocked with script, pathology, radiology and plain paper
provide very efficient document printing.
After Hours arrangements
The Practice shares an after hours/weekend roster with four other
clinics in Bendigo. Each of the five clinics in the roster takes turns
to be the “duty clinic” for weekend emergencies for their own
patients, as well as for the patients of the other clinics. Full-time
and part-time practitioners are expected to share the roster in a
pro-rata fashion. Each full-time practitioner works approximately four
weekends per year.
The Nursing Department
The Practice employs four highly skilled Division 1 nurses, each with
specialized skills, including PAP smear certification, wound
management, immunisation, and midwifery. The role of nursing in
general practice has expanded recently and now includes well-women
checks, health assessments, care planning, chronic disease management,
spirometry, audiometry, measurements of ankle-brachial pressure
indices, ECGs, first-aid, patient recall systems and more.
The role of the nurse in the Practice is complementary to that of the
General Practitioner. Nurses working at the Bendigo Medical Centre
enable the practice to provide an expanding range of services
utilising a combination of direct clinical patient care and management
of clinical care systems, particularly in the area of Chronic Disease
Management. The nurses collaborate effectively with the General
Practitioners and other members of multidisciplinary health-care teams
as determined by the needs of patient. We run very successful and
efficient Diabetes Care Programs, and Health Assessment and Care Plan
Programs. These programs are Systems and Procedures based and are
largely executed by the nursing staff, saving considerable time for
the medical practitioners.
The Nurses’ station is centrally located in the building and
incorporates three treatment rooms, one fitted with an operating table
and diathermy equipment; one with an electric low-access and wide
examination couch, and the third with two examination couches and
screens. A further three cubicals are used for simple procedures such
as immunisations and wound dressings.
Treatment room
1 (operating theatre)
Treatment
room 2
Treatment room 3
Corporate Medicine
The Bendigo Medical Centre is one of the leading clinics in Bendigo
providing Corporate and Industrial Medicine. We provide services such
as pre-employment and exit medicals, work-injury management and
on-site staff vaccination. Attractive practitioner fees have been
negotiated for our reliable and efficient delivery of services. We
have installed a purpose-built sound booth to ensure audiometry is
done in the most ideal conditions. We also perform spirometry and
instant alcohol and drug testing. Melbourne Pathology provides
additional on-site services as required.
