COVID 19

Given the impact of COVID 19 we are doing all we can to reduce the risks to our patients and staff. This includes strict hand washing, sanitisation and maintaining the Government recommendations for social distancing.

The impact of coronavirus will affect patient care in different ways and we will cover what we can below, but if this page does not answer your questions, please call us on 1300 208899. We are here to help.

What do I do if I need to see Dr Paul Thornton-Bott but am concerned about coronavirus?

To comply with the Department of Health policy to minimise contact we have implemented the following options:-

For patients who are low risk we are seeing them in the clinic allowing extra time for each appointment so that the clinics are less busy and patients spend little, if any time in the waiting room.
For those patients who are high risk and need to be seen, these patients will be offered individual appointments in a specially run clinic that means you will not be scheduled at a time when another patient could be in the rooms. You will only see one of our Administration team and Dr Thornton-Bott. We may suggest delaying the appointment until a later date, but are happy to discuss this with you.
For some patients we will be able to offer Telehealth appointments. These need to be pre-booked. See below.

Can I see Dr Thornton-Bott using Telehealth?

YES, you can, but these appointments will not be suitable for all patients. For example, you cannot be booked for surgery without being seen in person.

Telehealth consults are available with Dr Thornton-Bott and you can use one of these appointments for your existing appointment or a new appointment. When you make your appointment booking, explain to the Practice staff that you require a Telehealth appointment.

How do I book a Telehealth Appointment?

Please call our Administration staff, Kristen or Jodie on 1300 208899 and they will discuss with you if a Telehealth appointment will be possible for you.

It is best (but not essential) for the consultation to be via video link. We use GPConsults for video calls. You must have a mobile phone with a camera/video call capability. You will receive detailed information from our Admin staff when your booking is made how to participate in the video call, but in short:

You will receive an SMS at your appointment time with a link to join the video call
Tap on the link and you will be taken directly to the video call with Dr Thornton-Bott

If you do not have a video-enabled mobile phone then we can video call you on your computer via your email using Zoom, a video-meeting website. You can use Zoom on a desktop computer or laptop that has a built in webcam or a webcam attached to it and a microphone. Again, our Admin staff will explain the details, but below is a link to explain what you need to do to join the video call.

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362193-Joining-a-Meeting

I am booked for surgery. I have to attend a Pre-Assessment Clinic. What do I do? Currently, all but emergency or urgent surgery has been cancelled in both public and private hospitals. What do I do?

Dr. Thornton-Bott’s team will contact you to discuss your surgery, and if necessary re-schedule your operation date.

Each hospital has made changes to their pre-assessment clinics to deal with the current health issues. Please ring the hospital you are booked into and they will help. If you have any issues or concerns, please ring our Admin team on 1300 208899 and we will do what we can to help you.

I am not feeling well and need to exclude the possibility I have COVID 19.

Self isolate and request a telehealth consult from your GP or call Healthdirect on 1800 022 222 to exclude COVID-19

We are here to help during these challenging times, we know many of you have pain and we will do our best to see and treat you in a timely manner. Please bear with us during this time.

We intend to make accessing the healthcare you need as safe and easy as possible.

Information and advice is constantly changing. Please monitor the NSW Government COVID site for further information https://preview.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/symptoms-and-feeling-unwell or call us on 1300 208899 to find out how we can help.