First Visit

Appointment booking

If you have been diagnosed with cancer, your General Practitioner (GP) or Specialist Doctor will make a referral to see Dr Meniawy. Your Doctor may give you the referral to make your own appointment, or more commonly, they will send a referral to Dr Meniawy directly.

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Once your referral is received, our receptionist will contact you to make an appointment for you to see Dr Meniawy. At that time, you may also be allocated an appointment with Sam Gibson, Oncology Nurse Practitioner who will part of your team providing holistic cancer care.

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After your appointment is confirmed, our receptionist will send you a ‘New Patient Letter’ and a ‘New Patient Questionnaire’. The New Patient Letter provides you with some information about our practice, background on our practitioners, information about our fees and also the location of our practice. The New Patient Questionnaire allows us the opportunity to find out a little more about you, including your history, medications, supports and other medical conditions that you are or have been affected by. Completing and returning the new Patient Questionnaire before your appointment allows us to review your responses prior to your review. If it is not possible to return the questionnaire before your appointment, we ask that you bring it with you on the day of your appointment and hand it to our receptionist on arrival.

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The day prior to your appointment you will receive a message to your nominated mobile phone number, reminding you of your appointment. When you receive your text message, we would ask that you respond as instructed to confirm your appointment. If you do not have a mobile phone or have requested that we do not send you text reminders, our reception staff will phone you on the day prior to your appointment to confirm your attendance.

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Appointment cancellation

If you are unable to attend your appointment, we respectfully request that you notify our rooms as soon as possible. Missed appointments are not charged for, however, without sufficient notice we are unable to offer other patients these appointments. Your consideration is greatly appreciated.

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Preparation for your consultation

Come comfortably dressed as you may need to walk a few hundred metres to our practice from where you park. If you have not completed your New Patient Questionnaire prior to your first appointment, please bring it with you to hand to our receptionist.

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It is important for us to have a list of all of the medications that you are currently taking. You can provide this information in your New Patient Questionnaire, however if you have difficulty with this, we encourage you to bring your medications with you to your first appointment to allow us to document all the medications you are taking, including the dose of each medication and how often you take each medication.

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We recommend that you have a support person with you when you come for review. This can be a spouse, partner, relative or friend. We respect your right to choose if you want someone to accompany you or not, however our experience shows that having a support person present often helps with understanding the information provided and discussed during consult and provides valuable emotional support.

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What to bring to your consultation

• A valid Medicare card.

• A valid Health Insurance card or DVA card if applicable.

• A valid referral letter from your GP or referring specialist (if we have advised you that this is required).

• Any results or correspondence you may have that may be relevant to your consultation e.g. specialist reports, x-ray/scan results, pathology results, blood test results, details of any family history of cancer, etc.

• A payment method to settle your account; cash, cheque, EFTPOS or credit card (Mastercard or Visa card) are accepted.

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