Gastroenterology and Hepatology Outpatient Clinics - Information for Health Professionals

Professor Riordan’s Clinic is located at The Billington Centre, Level 2, Campus Centre Building, Prince of Wales Hospital.

Dr Kurtovic and Dr Marinos’ Clinics are located at Outpatients B, Level 2, Campus Centre Building, Prince of Wales Hospital.

Clinic Name	Clinic Day	Clinic Time
Prof Riordan’s Gastroenterology and Hepatology Clinic	Monday (weekly)	9.00-11.00am
Dr Kurtovic’s Gastroenterology General Clinic	Monday (fortnightly)	1.30-3.30pm
Dr Marinos’ Gastroenterology General Clinic	Friday (fortnightly)	8.30am-12.00pm

Full Name	Subspecialty
Professor Stephen Riordan	Gastroenterology and Hepatology Head of Department
Dr Jelica Kurtovic	Gastroenterologist
Dr George Marinos	Gastroenterologist

Inclusion criteria

We accept all patients aged over 18 years who require assessment and treatment by a Gastroenterologist or Hepatologist. 

Exclusion criteria  

We do not provide services for the management of haemorrhoids. 

Please review our services provided and referral criteria. 

Referral forms

If your patient is eligible for treatment, please use this referral form. Fax the referral form to (02) 9382 0422.

All mandatory information must be complete. The referral form ensures that you do not miss any mandatory information to enable a timely and appropriate referral.

Mandatory information for public and private referrals

You may receive a fax requesting a review of your referral if any of the following information is missing:

• Patient details, including full name, date of birth, phone number and Medicare number
• Consultant name (for private referrals)
• Clinic name 
• Next of Kin details
• Reason for referral 
• Diagnosis 
• Clinical urgency
• Results from investigations.

Private referrals (bulk-billed through Medicare)

All patients have the right to choose to be treated as a public or private patient for outpatient attendances. If your patient chooses to be treated privately and bulk-billed through Medicare, your referral must meet the following criteria:

• You must address the referral to one Consultant from our Specialist team, not the hospital, clinic, outpatient department or JMO
• You must sign and date the referral, and include your provider number and practice address
• You must state the period of referral in months, or refer “indefinitely”
• You must provide this referral on or prior to the appointment date.

We cannot process your referral if it does not meet the above criteria prior to your patient's initial appointment.

Your patient can choose to amend your referral on the day of their initial appointment. If you provide a private referral that is addressed to a Consultant, your patient may choose to: 

• Seek treatment from another provider within our team and change the Consultant's name on the referral themselves, or
• Decide to be treated as a public patient for their initial appointment, for which the private referral will be valid.

Please note that it is also inappropriate for our administration team to recommend a Consultant for your patient. We have listed the names and specialties of our Consultants above to help you decide on the most appropriate practitioner. 

Urgent referrals 

If your patient needs to be seen urgently, please call the Prince of Wales Hospital switchboard on (02) 9382 2222 and ask to speak with the Gastroenterology Registrar. 

Who will contact your patient to schedule an appointment?

Once we have received your referral, we will send your patient a confirmation letter with their scheduled appointment time via post.

We will notify your patient of their appointment via phone if their condition is urgent. 

We will also send your patient a SMS reminder at least 5 days before their appointment. 

Who can you contact to follow up on a referral? 

You may contact our department on (02) 9382 0400 or (02) 9382 3100. 

What is the process if a patient misses or cancels their appointment?

If your patient needs to change or cancel their appointment they should phone (02) 9382 0400 or 9382 3100.

If a patient appointment is missed or cancelled, we will advise you via fax. We will send your patient a new appointment time via post, or arrange an alternative time via phone if their condition is urgent. 

If your patient does not attend multiple consecutive appointments, we will advise you via fax. We may remove your patient from our appointment list until they provide confirmation that they are ready for their appointment. In this instance, you may need to complete another referral for your patient before they can be rebooked 

We are a Medicare service. You must provide a referral that is addressed to one of our Specialist team if your patient wishes to be bulk-billed.