FAQ’s
What happens when you visit The Salus Clinic
You will be seen by one of our geriatricians. Geriatricians are physicians who have undertaken extensive specialist training in understanding and managing the care needs of older adults. You will spend an hour with the geriatrician who will explore your background, medical and social history, your issues and concerns and you will then be offered a tailored clinical examination. The consultation concludes by exploring your priorities for managing the issues you face and creating solutions. This is called a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment and the way we use this strongly evidence-based assessment is led by you.
Do I need a GP (General Practitioner) referral?
Your GP is the central point for your healthcare and arguably the most important doctor you see, who is across all your issues. Whilst we are happy to see you without a GP referral, the summary your GP would have provided would have been helpful to summarising your care up to now, so it is very helpful for us to have that information. Also, without a GP (or another doctor’s referral), we are unable to access Medicare rebates, meaning the cost to you will be higher.
What do I need to bring?
Whilst you don’t need to bring anything to the consultation, a list of your current prescribed and over the counter medications is very helpful. Any scans or X-rays you have are also very useful – the pictures are better though the reports are useful if this is all you have. Any letters from your specialists or other health practitioners are very helpful also.
Can I have a copy of my letter from the Salus Clinic?
Absolutely. Your healthcare is yours. We welcome the sharing of our correspondence with our seniors so you have a summary of what we are doing together. You will also get a short-written summary of the plan on the day of the consultation. If you wish your families, carers or other healthcare organisations to have a copy of your letter, we request your permission before we share this.
Who else is involved with the Salus Clinic?
The Salus Clinic involves external health professional colleagues to support our seniors as required. Examples include physiotherapists, dieticians, social workers, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, dementia advisory services and Aged Care Assessment Teams. We also work with several other specialists to support specific needs such as arthritic, stomach, breathing or heart ailments.
How often do I need to be followed up at The Salus Clinic?
This depends on your care needs and what changes are being made at each consultation. Ultimately it depends on what you want, though with significant changes, we usually recommend between 6 weeks and 3 months. For stable seniors with minimal chronic problems, we recommend 6-12 months. Our seniors contact the Salus Clinic by phone and we are happy to liaise with you about minor issues without visiting us in person.