Communique
Keep up to date with Riverview Mind Clinic
December Updates
Ho Ho Ho! Christmas is upon us and from all of us here at Riverview Mind Clinic we want to wish you all a safe and peaceful Christmas and a joyous New Year.
Please note the clinic will be closed on Public Holidays and only operating on a pre-arranged appointment basis from Monday 23rd December – Sunday 5th January 2025, our “shutdown” period. Please be aware that there will be limited capacity to respond to your calls or emails during this time.
Before we get into the juicy bits, a few reminders for everyone…
Appointments:
We are fast filling our books for the year and into the new year, all current patients please allow for an expected wait of up to three months when seeking a review appointment.
Please be mindful that the administration staff are not clinical staff and do not have the ability to answer questions about your specific care / treatment needs. Whilst they are committed to trying to assist every patient, they are not able to make decisions about medications, scripts, pathology tests etc.
Please also keep in mind the administration staff are often the first point of contact and always try to do their utmost to assist everyone, we ask that you remember to treat them with respect and kindness, your frustration is not because they are not trying to help you.
New Referrals:
Our waitlist for all new referrals is currently between 4-5 months. Once we have received a current referral from your GP, it is added to our waitlist and when a suitable appointment becomes available, our reception staff will contact you directly and begin the booking process with you. Please do not call the clinic requesting updates with the waitlist, we will contact you.
A referral from your GP only lasts 12 months – all patients are required to have a current referral for their appointment.
Scripts:
It takes the doctors time and often for authority scripts, this can be quite time consuming to arrange scripts for patients, that is why we communicate with your GP once your treatment is tailored correctly to avoid you having lengthy wait times and expenses in maintaining your treatment. Unless there is a clearly documented and prearranged plan made with one of our doctors for repeat scripts outside of your scheduled appointments, please note that you will likely be required to attend / be charged for a 15-minute phone consultation ($150.00) to obtain any repeat script and in some cases these requests may be declined.
If you are going to run out of medication, you should in the first instance speak with your GP.
Our Contact Details:
For all email enquiries: admin@riverviewmindclinic.com.au
Responsiveness:
The clinic receives more than 200 phone calls, emails and faxes daily, the administration staff are not able to put direct calls through to the doctors and at times it could take several days to get a response. Please understand we are NOT a crisis service, if you have urgent health needs you need to contact your GP or urgent care clinic or crisis options such as:
Lifeline 13 11 14
Suicide Callback Service 1300 659 467
Open Arms (Veterans & Families) 1800 011 046
National Dementia Hotline 1800 100 500
QLD MH Call (Acute Care Team) 1300 642 255
In an emergency, please dial 000
And now for the latest…. The wait is OVER! TMS is here!
We are THRILLED to announce our TMS clinic is officially open! Our very first patient Leesa has been kind enough to allow us to share some photos of her having treatment right here in the comfort of our clinic. Leesa has generously offered to allow us to draw from moments of her TMS experience to share with our RVMC patients & families helping us to demystify some of the information about TMS, what it is and why some people need it. Week one for Leesa and she told us today she can feel the return of “hope”. Let me tell you there was not a dry eye in the building! Please contact the clinic if you would like some information on TMS to discuss with your doctor or for an easy-to-understand overview you could try reading this information from The Black Dog Institute
Lived Experience Art Displays
Many of you may have noticed some aesthetic changes to our practice environment over the last several weeks, one of which we are blessed to be able to share is the addition of art works created by patients with lived experience. The following piece is proudly hung in our reception and was kindly gifted to Dr. The The Aung by our very own first TMS patient and exceptionally talented and gifted artist – Leesa.
Staff Spotlight…
Introducing Mila and Nikkita to our Administration Assistant legends crew! Mila has joined Riverview Mind Clinic as a school-based trainee and over the following year along with completing her year 12 certificate, we will see Mila grow and develop her skills in health & business administration. Mila is from the sunshine coast and in the space of a few short weeks has already demonstrated her dedication to learning and giving back to our local community.
Nikkita is also originally from the coast however has just recently returned to Australia after living abroad for a while growing her social media presence and expanding her own business. Nikkita has grown up surrounded by health professionals having a mother who is a Nurse Specialist and two brothers with ADHD and Autism.
Please be sure to say hello to our two newest legends next time you’re in the clinic or get a chance to introduce yourself next time they call.
It’s not all happy sailing, as life so often does, we’ve had a few obstacles come up that have impacted our ability and motivation to quality add, the most noticeable impact to date is that we sadly this month have had to say goodbye to Heather ☹
Heather has been an instrumental part in our reinvention and growth and she will be dearly missed, in fact we were all so saddened at the thought of her leaving completely that she has graciously agreed to assist us behind the scenes remotely from NSW as we get ready to set up and transfer to a new practice software system (we are secretly hoping if we make her keep in regular contact with us she might just manage to convince her husband that life really was better on the Sunny Coast and come back!)
Amongst the ongoing changes, quality improvements and just old-fashioned hard work – we have managed to grab a few moments to share some fun and laughter and even a little Christmas spirit (complete with an 80’s photoshoot!) There has been much food (who knew Dr. Thet Aung could cook a Christmas ham that Martha Stewart would be envious of!) There’s been games (yes, Dr. Thet Aung also won the sneaky Santa!) most of all, we’ve been able to reflect on the growth, the learning experiences and the new and reinforced positive relationships we’ve forged with our patients and their supports and our peers and wider community. We are genuinely excited about what RVMC will deliver for 2025.
If you have had a positive experience with our clinic we would love for you to share your feedback