Persistent pain
Pain that has persisted past the usual options.
You have told this story before, probably more than once. Here it gets heard once, properly, and written down, so you are not starting again next time.
- Registered practitioners
- Prior treatments reviewed
- We don't own or run a pharmacy
- Every state and territory
Telling it all again
Your explanation was never the problem.
If you have had pain for years, you have told this story more times than you can count. You know the order it happened in. You know which parts get brushed past. You know which parts are costing you the most.
We are going to ask you to tell it again. That is not a small thing to ask, and we are not going to pretend it is.
Pain that has lasted this long is never only physical, which is why it cannot be boiled down to a few lines. Two people with the same diagnosis, the same scans and the same list of things that didn't work can still need completely different care. Finding that difference takes a longer conversation.
So your nurse call takes 15 to 20 minutes, and longer if your story needs it. Your nurse writes it down properly, your doctor reads it before the two of you meet, and it stays on your record. Once, properly.
Before you book
Everything a nurse will ask about your pain.
Here is the whole conversation, so you know what you are walking into before you book. It is the same set of questions for everybody who calls, and there are no right answers to any of them.
If something doesn't apply to you, say so and we'll move on. If one of them opens up something bigger, there is room for that, and that is what the time on the call is for.
Your history
- 01 How long it has been going on, how it has changed, and whether there is a pattern to it.
- 02 What you have already tried. Prescribed, over the counter, physical, psychological, surgical. In what order, and for how long.
- 03 What helped before, even partly. Partial relief is important for us to understand, and so are the things that worked once and then stopped.
- 04 What doesn't help, what makes it worse, and anything you had to stop because of unwanted side effects.
- 05 Any other health conditions you have, and any other medicines or treatments you use. We ask because some treatments affect each other, and we need to know that to keep you safe.
- 06 What your days actually look like. Sleep, work, movement, relationships, social life, the things you have stopped doing, and the things you wish you could do again.
- 07 Anyone else involved in providing care to you, which could be your GP, a specialist, or anyone else treating you. We won't contact anyone without talking with you about it first, but we may need some information from other providers to give you the safest care. We'll always discuss this with you directly.
We ask you to fill out forms ahead of time so we have a picture to work from. Nothing you put into a form decides anything, and there are no right or wrong answers. We ask you about your life, and then we listen to what you tell us.
What happens on the call
Two clinicians working with you.
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01Nurse
You pick the time yourself
Choose a slot from the calendar when you book, so you are not waiting on anybody to call you back. Fill in the intake form, and an Ahpra registered nurse then takes your history properly on the call, for as long as that takes.
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02Doctor
A time the two of you agree
You and the nurse settle on a time for the doctor while you are still on that first call. Your doctor reads what the nurse wrote before the two of you meet, so you are not opening with a summary of your own history.
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03Decision
You will know by the end of it
The decision is made during your consultation, so you are not left waiting on a letter. Whatever the doctor concludes, the reasoning gets written down and the record is yours. If you would like your GP to have a copy, we will send one.
Being straight with you
Sometimes the useful answer is somewhere else.
If someone would be better looked after elsewhere we say so plainly, usually with a referral. That is a real outcome. If your nurse or doctor decides this isn't the right service for you, we'll refund your consultation fee in full. Knowing where you stand is worth the call on its own.
We can't tell you in advance how your consultation will end. That decision belongs to the practitioner who assesses you, and it isn't one a website should be making on their behalf. Ahpra's guidance for Australian practitioners is clear that this should never be a first option, and that there should always be a way back out.
We see patients in every Australian state and territory, and you are welcome to ask for the name and registration details of whoever is treating you, at any point.
What this costs, all of it.
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Consultation
$69
Taken when you book
If your nurse or doctor decides this isn't the right service for you, we'll refund your consultation fee in full.
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Nurse and doctor
Included
Both consultations
There is no second fee between your nurse call and your doctor consultation. If you need to see a doctor again later, that consultation is charged at the same fee.
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Anything prescribed
Variable
Set by the pharmacy
This sits outside the consultation fee. If anything is prescribed, you choose which Australian pharmacy fills it, your own local one included. That pharmacy quotes you directly, and you pay them. Neither the PBS nor Medicare pays towards it.
Begin your care when you're ready.
A short intake online, then your nurse call and doctor consult. $69 taken when you book, and refunded in full if this isn't the right service for you.
About 5 minutes online to start. Your $69 consultation fee is taken when you book, and refunded in full if this isn't the right service for you.
You will not have to tell it from the beginning again.