FAQ’s

No. Ěḏen Lifestyle Centre (ELC), located in Elanora Heights, has been developed to cater for non-urgent, chronic disease medical care. ELC provides adjunct medical care to support you and your usual general practitioner, as well as your specialist. ELC is not designed or equipped for acute/urgent medical care or medical emergencies. You are advised to have a usual GP that you can see at short notice and for standard general practice issues – e.g. contraception, acute illness, standard post-operative care / wound checks. For acute medical care, please see your usual GP, or in an emergency please attend your local emergency department.

Routine care: Please consult your usual GP
After hours care: NATIONAL HOME DOCTOR SERVICE phone 13 SICK (13 74 25)
Urgent/Emergency care: Urgent care centre, Mona Vale Hospital or Emergency Department, Northern Beaches Hospital
Life threatening situation: Please call 000

Services provided (but not limited to):

• Lifestyle, integrative and preventative medicine (including sleep hygiene, nutrition, exercise and weight loss)
• Women’s Health (including menopause, perimenopause, and period problems)
• Gastrointestinal health (including IBS/SIBO)
• Mental Health (including anxiety and depression)
• Other General Medicine

This is not an exhaustive list. If you do not see the service you require listed above, please contact ELC.

Yes. There are three types of consultation available.

• Surgery (in person)
• Telehealth (video)
• Telephone*

Home visits are not available.

*Please note that the maximum Medicare rebate for telephone appointments is capped at $41.40.

Consultations are by appointment only

Monday: 8:00am-5:00pm
Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday: 8:00am-5:00pm
Thursday: 8:00am-5:00pm
Friday: Closed
Closed weekends and public holidays

Please note that hours and days are subject to change.

If English is your second language and you require an interpreter, please inform us when making your appointment so that we can arrange an interpreter for your appointment. Alternatively please telephone the interpreting hotline 131 450.

No. Consultations are by appointment only.

NOTE: There is no onsite receptionist. All appointments are therefore made either via email or phone.

For new patients it is best to contact form. Put “New Patient Appointment” in the subject line and your name and phone number in the body of the email. An email with an attached patient registration form will be sent to you. Once the completed Patient Registration Form has been returned to ELC, please allow up to five working days for contact to make an appointment.

You may return your completed Patient Registration Form via email, post or drop into the locked letterbox.  Please note that email is not considered secure and should you choose to return your form via email it is at your own risk.

All new patient appointments are one hour in duration and available in person or as a telehealth (video) appointment. Please note that due to Medicare rules, Medicare rebates for Telehealth (video) and Telephone appointments are only available to patients that have seen Dr Sonia in surgery within the previous 12 months. Therefore, it is recommended to have your initial appointment as an in person surgery appointment so that you are eligible for your Medicare rebate.

If during your appointment you are advised to have a follow up appointment (e.g. to receive test results or review), consider booking your follow up appointment at the end of your consultation.

New patient appointments are 60 minutes in length face to face. However, preparation work will be involved. Please allow time for your appointment.

Existing patients the time will be according to clinical need. An appointment will be booked according to the list of concerns when you make the appointment. You will only be charged on the time taken in the appointment and not on the time booked for the appointment. If less time is taken, you will only be charged based on the time taken in the appointment and not on the time booked for the appointment. If more time is required, a further appointment may be necessary.

Please bring a surgical mask and any packets/bottles of medication and supplements that you are currently taking.

For all appointments please feel free to bring in a notepad to take notes. Recordings are not permitted.

Patient safety is of utmost importance. Dr Sonia wears a mask for all face to face consultations to ensure protection for immunocompromised family members and patients. Masks are to be worn inside at all times by all people attending the practice. Masks are not required at the covered seating on the porch outside the front of the practice. Please bring a surgical mask to your appointment. Thank you for your understanding.

Please see “Mask Policy” under “Policies” for further information.

For existing patients, please email admin@edenlifestyle.au, put “Appointment” in the subject line and in the body of the email leave your name and phone number. A return phone call will be made later. If we are unable to reach you via phone, we will return your email and indicate a time that we will call to make your appointment.

If you do not have email, please text your name and phone number to the practice phone and you will receive a phone call. If you do not have a mobile phone, please phone 0490 433 413 and leave your name and phone number clearly on voicemail and your call will be returned.  Please note that email will be checked more frequently than text, and text checked more frequently than voicemail.

If during your appointment you are advised to have a follow up appointment (e.g. to receive test results or review), consider booking your follow up appointment at the end of your consultation.

When you are making your appointment please specify how many medical issues/questions you have so that an appropriate amount of time can be allocated for your consultation.  Please note that fees apply on the time taken in the consultation, not the time booked for the consultation. Therefore, please book an appointment which is long enough to take care of your concerns and answer your questions. Then we have enough time to address your health concerns fully (and reduce the risk of Dr Sonia running late for everyone else!)

The below list is a GUIDE only and obviously nothing is fixed in medicine because it depends upon the patient/problem. If you are not sure, please ask when you make your appointment.

• 6-19 minutes – Standard consultation – 1 standard problem
• 20-39 minutes – long consultation – complex problem or 2 problems (e.g. breast examination and cervical screening or abdominal pain with investigations and a written referral etc.)
• 40-59 minutes – extended consultation – complex problem or 3 problems
• 60 minutes – New patient or complex problem or multiple problems

Please note that if there are multiple problems and a shorter time slot has been selected, another consultation may be necessary.

If you are experiencing ANY contagious symptoms, especially cold/flu/COVID like symptoms (such as headache, fever, sneezing, nasal congestion/runny nose, coughing, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, sore throat, nausea or vomiting, diarrhoea), please do not attend the surgery.

If you have a surgery appointment booked, please change your appointment to a telehealth (video) appointment or cancel your appointment.

Please bear in mind if you decide to change to a Telehealth (video) appointment that, due to Medicare rules, new patients, or existing patients that have not seen Dr Sonia within the previous 12 months, are not eligible for Medicare rebates for Telehealth (video).

If you need to cancel an appointment, please give as much notice as possible so that others who are waiting can use the appointment slot. Cancellations made less than 48 hours (2 working days) before the scheduled appointment time will incur a cancellation fee of 100% of the consultation fee. This will be an outstanding fee on your account and no further appointments will be made until outstanding fees are paid. If you have cold/flu/COVID-like symptoms, please call and advise as soon as you are aware that you are unwell.

Please note that cancelling on Friday before the weekend for a Monday appointment is not giving a 48-hour (2 working day) notification. The latest a Monday appointment can be cancelled is Thursday morning.

If more than one person in your family wishes to see Dr Sonia, please make separate appointments. You are welcome to see Dr Sonia together as long as sequential appointments are made.

Dr Sonia endeavours to run to appointment times. Occasionally, due to unexpected reasons as well as appointments that run over time, she may run late compared to your appointment time. We try to minimise this by encouraging patients to book for a longer consultation if required. We apologise for delays you may experience.

Surgery appointments are in person appointments and are available to all patients who are well. Unwell patients are advised to change their surgery appointment to a Telehealth (video) appointment or to cancel their appointment.

New patients, and existing patients who have not attended within the previous 12 months, who wish to claim Medicare rebates need to be seen in person to be eligible for Medicare rebates for subsequent Telehealth or telephone appointments.

Video appointments are available to all patients. They are offered using Healthdirect (government) link or Zoom.

For Telehealth (video) appointments a link will be sent to your email or SMS. Click on the link just prior to your appointment and wait. Once Dr Sonia is ready, she will join you. If you have never used Telehealth previously, it is advised to click on the link 5-10 minutes earlier and test that your microphone and video camera are working.

If Dr Sonia is unable to connect with you, she will phone you. If the audio is not working, but the video is working, please leave the video rolling and Dr Sonia will call your phone for the audio part. The reason is that if your appointment exceeds 20 minutes you are still able to claim the higher Medicare rebate associated with the time bracket. Telephone appointments for Medicare rebates are capped. Medicare rebate is only applicable if you have had a surgery appointment with Dr Sonia within the previous 12 months.

Dr Foley is available for telehealth (video) appointments, however an in-person appointment is recommended as the initial appointment. The reason is that Medicare rebates only apply if you have seen the GP in person. You will find that this is the same for all GPs because it is a Medicare rule; (please see the information from the link below). After the first in-person appointment, thereafter if a patient wishes to have telehealth (video) appointments, then they will receive Medicare rebates for up to 12 months.

However, if a patient cannot come into the surgery for the initial appointment, and wishes to do only a telehealth (video) appointment without seeing Dr Foley face to face in surgery, it can be done. The only caveat is that the patient would need to pay the full private fee with no Medicare rebate, since Medicare will only pay a rebate on GP appointments for telehealth after a face to face, in-person appointment.

https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/who-can-claim-telehealth-services-under-mbs-or-dva?context=20

General practitioners, prescribed medical practitioners and nurse practitioners

If you’re working in a general practice, you can only use telehealth items for patients who have either:

• an existing clinical relationship with you
• visited your practice for a face to face service in the last 12 months.

Some patients are exempt from this rule. This includes patients who meet any of the following:

• experiencing homelessness
• under 12 months of age
• treated at an AMS or an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (ACCHS)
• in a natural disaster area
• requiring urgent care after hours services in unsociable hours
• receiving consultation for blood borne viruses, sexual or reproductive health (excluding consultations related to assisted reproductive technology or antenatal care)
• registered in MyMedicare at the practice providing the telehealth service
• in isolation or quarantine for COVID-19 due to a state or territory public health order.

Due to Medicare rules, telephone appointments are capped at $41.40 total Medicare rebate. Therefore, if your appointment is likely to be greater than 19 minutes, it is better to have a Telehealth (video) appointment or a surgery appointment.

For telephone appointments Dr Sonia will call you once she is ready for your appointment. You do not need to call her. It may show up on your phone as a “Private number”, so if “Private Number” is displayed on your phone at the time of your appointment, please answer your phone.

As with Telehealth (video) appointments, Medicare rebate is only applicable for telephone appointments if you have had an in person surgery appointment with Dr Sonia within the previous 12 months.

Please note that there is no on site receptionist.

Please use the contact form

The telephone is not monitored due to no on site receptionist. Making appointments is best with email.

If you have questions about appointments, please check the website or Patient Information Sheet first and if your questions are not answered, please email your question(s). Email is for appointments and issues relating to appointments. Email is not for clinical questions.

Previous patients of Dr Sonia are very welcome to come to ELC for ongoing care. Please indicate which practice you last saw her in your email.

Email to admin@edenlifestyle.au is available to:
1. Make an appointment.
2. Advise reception if you have not heard back 7 days after having a test.
3. Provide information to ELC e.g. submit your completed new patient form, provide results from tests you have had with another doctor etc.
4. Request a repeat prescription without a consultation – please see I need a repeat prescription can I get another one without an appointment? Under “Repeat Prescriptions/Referrals”
5. Request a specialist referral without a consultation – please see Can I get a referral without an appointment? Under “Repeat Prescriptions/Referrals”

Email is not designed for:
1. Routine queries
2. Discussions
3. Clinical questions
4. Requests for blood tests, radiology tests etc. without an appointment – please see Can I get a pathology form prior to my appointment so that I can get my bloods done? Under “Results”

Please bring all your non-urgent questions, requests, updates of your history or results to your actual appointment.

Email is not regularly monitored. Simple emails requiring yes/no and brief responses will be answered within 3-5 working days.

For longer enquiries or multiple questions, please book a short Telehealth (video) or phone consultation.

Please note that emails are not answered on weekends and public holidays.

Please note that there is no on site receptionist.

The telephone is usually not monitored. Telephone voicemail will be checked and return calls will be made within three to five (3-5) working days. Please do not leave urgent messages on the phone voicemail. All emergencies, please see your usual GP or call 000 and attend your local emergency department. Email will be checked more regularly than phone for appointments and non-clinical queries.

If a phone call is required to make an appointment or answer a question, please be patient. If you have not heard back within five (5) working days, perhaps something has gone wrong. Please send another message so that a return call can be made.

SMS is used to remind patients of their upcoming appointments and/or to contact the practice for results and recalls.

For recalls and results, it is patient responsibility to contact the practice and follow up on the message.

Yes, all appointments need to be confirmed.

No. ELC is a private billing practice and all consultations are to be paid in full at the end of the consultation.

If you hold a valid Medicare card, and it was a Medicare eligible consultation, then yes, you are eligible for a Medicare rebate. However, payment in full at the end of you consultation is still required. Medicare rebates are only applicable to the time taken in direct consultation with the doctor, and not to time taken for preparation for the consultation or time taken after the consultation.

Medicare eligible consultations are those that are related to a known or suspected medical condition and apply to the diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions.

Once payment in full for your consultation is received, Medicare will be notified and your rebate will be credited to your nominated bank account (if eligible). To provide Medicare claiming at the time of your appointment, we will need your Medicare card and a debit card. You may pay for the appointment using a credit card, but please note that Medicare will only rebate into a bank account (not credit card). This must be set up on the Medicare website prior to your appointment.

If you do not have your bank account registered with Medicare, or if the system fails, a receipt will be provided to you with which you can submit your claim to Medicare via Medicare online.

Telehealth and telephone appointments are privately billed and Medicare rebates are only available if you have attended the surgery in person within the previous 12 months.

Once you have attended in person, Medicare rebates apply for the following 12 months for Telehealth (video) and telephone appointments. This Medicare rule applies for both new and existing patients. Therefore, where possible, try to attend the surgery in person for your first appointment and every 12 months if an existing patient.

Telephone consultations have a capped Medicare rebate limit of $41.40. Telephone consultations 20 minutes and over do not have an increase in Medicare rebate. Telehealth (video) appointments attract the same Medicare rebate as in surgery appointments. Therefore, Telehealth (video) consultations are encouraged for remote appointments that are likely to exceed 19 minutes to ensure you receive the indexed Medicare rebate.

Only Medicare rebates apply to medical consultations. Private health insurance does not provide a rebate.

We can see people who are eligible for DVA or Worker’s Compensation, however, the same fee rate applies. You will still need to pay the full fee at the time of consultation and you are responsible to submit a claim with your respective body. Therefore, it is advisable for you to check with the appropriate body prior to your consultation to see if you are eligible to be reimbursed for all or part of your consultation. After payment of your consultation, a receipt will be issued to you which you can submit for claiming.

The only cards accepted are Visa or Mastercard credit cards, or any card displaying the Visa or MasterCard logo with embedded chip.

We do not accept payments by any other cards.

Cash is also accepted

No. Payment is to be made at the end of your consultation.

ELC is located in the front of a private residence in Elanora Heights. For security reasons the address is only given to patients once they have filled in their new patient registration form and have made an appointment.

There is no on-site receptionist. If you need an appointment please see “APPOINTMENT” above.

If you arrive for your appointment, please wait and Dr Sonia will see you when she is ready for your appointment.

Please be aware that there are no bathroom facilities available on site.

There is plenty of on-street parking right outside the property. Please do not park in the driveway. Please leave free for disabled access.

Disabled access is via the front ramp. Please drop off disabled patients using the driveway but then please use the street for parking. This ensures that the driveway access is free for any other disabled patients.

Please feel free to give relevant results to Dr Sonia prior to your appointment.

If you are a new patient, and you are providing a digital .xml copy of your entire medical record (including confidential material) on a USB at least 3 days prior to your initial appointment, then your previous investigation results that are in your .xml medical file should copy over.

Otherwise if you are able to provide digital copies of your results then .pdf format is best.

It is not advised to visit your regular GP just to get pathology done prior to your appointment. Dr Sonia may require blood tests that your regular GP may not order. This would result in you needing another blood test, a second needle stick and more time out of your day.

It is better to bring any relevant previous test results so that Dr Sonia can make an informed decision as to what tests are required.

No pathology forms are given out prior to an appointment. Dr Sonia needs to do a full history prior to deciding what blood tests will be required.

Most tests requested will be covered by Medicare.

However, there may be some relevant tests that are privately billed in all cases, and some, which due to Medicare regulations, may require private billing if you do not meet certain Medicare criteria. If there are privately billed tests advised, this will be discussed with you and you can make a decision if you wish to proceed.

Any doctor ordering a test is medico-legally responsible and cannot request tests merely based on a patient or other practitioner suggestions. If you have seen another health practitioner who has advised you to have certain tests, they should be responsible to order these tests. Please be aware that other healthcare professionals can order tests privately.

Dr Sonia orders tests according to patient need with relation to the history that she takes.

Dr Sonia only gives test forms for tests that she believes are clinically relevant to you. It is your decision if you decide that you do not want to get the tests performed.

Once a test form or digital request has been given to a patient it is patient responsibility to ensure that the tests are performed and to check that the results return to the practice if you have not received notification from ELC. 

Some tests will come back within 24 hours but others may take as long as 4-6 weeks. Dr Sonia will advise you if any tests will take longer than 7 days to return.

All results that are returned to the practice are checked by Dr Sonia and SMS notification will be sent to patients unless an urgent result is returned.

If you have performed a test and have not heard back from ELC within seven (7) days of performing your test (unless advised in your appointment that the test will take longer than 7 days), then please email admin@edenlifestyle.au to advise that you have had your test and have not been notified by ELC that your test results have returned. We will be alerted to chase the outstanding result(s). If you do not have email, then please phone.

If you do not already have an appointment booked, please arrange an appointment to discuss your results. If you already have an appointment booked, then you will be advised if the appointment needs to be brought forward. All results that have a recall are important to discuss and require an appointment.

Urgent results

If results require immediate action (e.g. emergency department presentation) then Dr Sonia will call the phone number you have provided. If she is unable to get through on the phone she will need to use the emergency contact phone number you provided.

Semi-urgent results

SMS will be sent advising that an appointment should be made within 2-14 days. Please contact the surgery within 7 days to make an appointment.

Non-urgent results

SMS will be sent advising that an appointment should be made. Please contact the surgery within 14 days to make an appointment.

Normal results

Normal test results – if your tests are normal, and there are no other items to discuss, Dr Sonia will send you an SMS advising that you have normal results and that no follow up is required for those results. However, if you still have remaining questions/issues, then please make an appointment.

Results are only given in an appointment. Dr Sonia is able to give a copy of your results, should you wish a copy, at your follow up appointment.

Due to confidentiality requirements, results will only be given to the patient they concern, unless written permission has been given by the patient. This permission must contain the name of the person authorised to receive the results and be signed by the patient.

Results are only given after they have been discussed in an appointment. However, they can be sent after your appointment if you wish.

Dr Sonia sends your results directly from the Douglass Hanly Moir website if you give her permission to use your email address and phone number.

There will be no communication for results of tests have not been ordered by ELC. If we are copied in on your tests that were ordered by another doctor, then your results will simply be put into your file. For results that were ordered by another doctor, it is important that you follow up with the doctor who ordered the tests.

For prescriptions issued at ELC only. If the prescription is of your usual medication from your regular GP, please contact them for a repeat prescription.

Most scripts are written by Dr Sonia to provide sufficient medication until your condition needs to be reviewed; repeat scripts are therefore generally only provided at a consultation (and not over the phone).

If you have been seen at ELC within the past 6 months and had satisfactory blood tests within the past 12 months, then for some prescriptions no repeat appointment is necessary, provided that the prescription was written at ELC.

Please email admin@edenlifestyle.au your name, the list of prescriptions required*, and mode (email or text) preferred for the QR code to be sent. If it is appropriate for a repeat prescription to be given, you will receive an email or text with the prescription QR code.

*Your safety is of utmost importance. For certain conditions extra information is required. For example, blood pressure medication (hypertension) – require a recent blood pressure reading (you can obtain this at home after resting for 5-10 minutes if you own a machine, or pop into your local pharmacy). Please email the result to admin@edenlifestyle.au at the same time as your request for your medication. Other conditions, such as diabetes, may require blood tests with a shorter interval.

• Repeat prescription (no consult) – $35 (within 3 working days)
• Urgent repeat prescription (no consult) – $75 (within 24 hours) please advise in the email that it is urgent.

Please note that no Medicare rebate applies to scripts with no consultation.

If an appointment is required you will be advised.

For ongoing referrals only, if you have been seen at ELC in the past 12 months and you obtained your last referral to the specialist from ELC, then a new appointment for a referral renewal is likely not necessary.

Please email admin@edenlifestyle.au with your name, the specialist name and what the referral is for.

• Ongoing referral (no consult) – $35 (within 3 working days)
• Urgent ongoing referral (no consult) – $75 (within 24 hours) – please advise in the email subject line that the referral is urgent

Please note that no Medicare rebate applies to referrals with no consultation.

If this is a new referral, or if you had a referral from another GP to your specialist, then an appointment is required.