BOOKING A New Patient Appointment- Information and how to request an appointment:
Books remain open for the following Subspecialist doctors:
Paediatric Endocrinologist Dr Jessica Harbison.
Neonatologist Dr Lydia Kennedy.
Non-urgent new patients may expect a wait time of about 2 months for an appointment with Dr Kennedy. Dr Kennedy sees infants from birth until about age 2 years of age.
To request an appointment with Dr. Harbison or Dr. Kennedy,
Go to the NEW PATIENT INTAKE STEPS below for information on the process.
Complete the REQUEST AN APPOINTMENT FORM below
Books are currently closed to New Patients for
the Neurologist
General Paediatricians.
Books are closed for Paediatric Neurologist Dr Romain Briest.
Unfortunately, both neurologists, Dr Romain Briest and Dr Kerrie-Anne Chen, have closed their books to new patients as of 05/12/2023 for the foreseeable future due to long waiting lists and reduced consulting availability. Dr Chen closed her Private Practice in March 2024. No other neurologist is setting up private practice in association with us to take on newly referred patients or those on the waiting list.
General Paediatrician Appointments- all books are currently closed to new patients.
A referral may be accepted if it details significant or serious clinical concerns and a pressing or urgent need for specialist paediatrician assessment, diagnosis and management regarding
medical concerns in infants, children and adolescents.
infant, toddler & preschooler developmental concerns.
any previous, current or planned clinical or allied health assessment, management or therapeutic pathways, referrals and interventions for the concern.
Referrals are not being accepted currently for concerns regarding behaviour, mental health and ADHD or ASD (possible or already diagnosed) in older children or adolescents.
If your child has not yet been offered an appointment and the referral does not meet the above criteria, it is very unlikely that an appointment will be offered. If the referral is not accepted, we will notify your referrer and email you a copy of that advice.
ASD Diagnosis: For current patients or those accepted under the above criteria, the associated paediatricians may provide a provisional diagnosis subject to the outcome of a formal assessment. However, they will generally not be able to undertake that formal assessment themselves due to capacity constraints. If formally diagnosed, they may offer a follow-up appointment for item 135.
The current situation-important information:
Recently booked non-urgent new patients are waiting up to at least 28 months for their appointment with a paediatrician.
The paediatricians have closed their books for at least the next 6 months. Check this website for updates.
Appointments with longer wait times may be cancelled later. Your paediatrician may unexpectedly need to delay or cancel your child’s appointment due to illness or other circumstances or may unexpectedly close their private practice at Prosper Paediatrics. In this circumstance, other associated doctors may be able to offer an appointment, but there may be further delay, or an appointment may no longer be possible.
An appointment must be booked to be on a cancellation list.
Please advise us if you wish to have the referral directed to an alternative paediatrician associated with Prosper Paediatrics. If your nominated paediatrician has a very long wait time or declines the referral, you may want to consider another paediatrician. The associated paediatricians know the situation and have advised that they are happy and ethically motivated to recommend another paediatrician for your child. You may also be able to stay on the cancellation list for your preferred doctor.
New Patient Intake Steps (all specialist doctors):
Your child’s detailed REFERRAL is sent to us. Information about Medicare valid referrals is available here.
You submit the APPOINTMENT REQUEST FORM.
Please also review the policies detailed in our emails or on the website section For Patients and Families to understand the requirements and responsibilities of accepting an appointment and engaging in a healthcare relationship with the associated doctor.
The nominated Specialist REVIEWS THE REFERRAL in the next few weeks to either
DECLINE the referral- the referrer will be notified, and a copy of that advice will be emailed to the family.
ACCEPT the referral and
TRIAGE it to decide on the level of need for priority when offering earlier appointments that may become available.
OFFER AN APPOINTMENT.
Each doctor triages their referrals at their discretion and in light of their clinical judgement regarding the nature of the referred concerns and their capacity and current patient load.
If the doctor has agreed, AN APPOINTMENT OFFER IS EMAILED TO YOU.
This will provide details of the next available appointment that can be offered, how earlier appointments are offered when possible, and the applicable policies, requirements, and responsibilities of accepting the appointment. Please carefully read this email and the linked or referenced policies.
You must then ACCEPT THE OFFERED APPOINTMENT WITHIN SEVEN DAYS by
a) completing the CONSENT TO POLICIES FORM
b) completing the PATIENT DEMOGRAPHIC FORM:
If not accepted within seven days, the Appointment Offer will be withdrawn, and the intake process for your child will be closed.
If you decline or do not accept this offer but wish to consider a further appointment offer, please advise us by email.
How do Appointments become available to New Patients?
The Doctors’ appointment books have reserved times for various needs, including urgent patients. If these times are no longer needed or families cancel their appointments, we may then offer the time to new patients. Sometimes, these appointments become available at quite short notice.
We take great care to avoid appointments being wasted and to bring appointments forward wherever possible. Generally, we expect to move many appointments forward, a little or a lot, depending on urgency, over the next 28 months.
Cancellation Offer Procedure Email
If we send you an Appointment Offer, we will also send you this email.
Please read this carefully as it details our procedure and explains how we offer cancellations and how families can try for earlier appointments. If you decide to accept the appointment offer, it will be important to save this email and review it from time to time.
Being flexible for short-notice offers, readily contactable, and quick to respond by email to our SMS or phone call will help you secure an earlier appointment.
Your Provider’s Fees:
We will send you a link to your doctor's fee schedule with your Booking Emails. Providers do not offer bulk billing, and fees must be paid on the day immediately following your child’s appointment. Information about your provider’s policies is linked here: fee payment; bookings, fees & cancellations; Medicare rebates.
Please ensure you understand and accept these requirements, terms and conditions if you wish to accept an appointment.
Concerns regarding Fees
As a private practice, services are funded only by patient fees. Your fees will fund healthcare services and allow us to work efficiently to help your doctor provide excellent, enhanced continuity of care but with budgets that are substantially less than those provided by the government in the public system. Medicare provides substantial assistance, but we understand that some families will prefer or need to seek free public health or lower-cost services. If so, ask your GP, as soon as possible, to redirect the referral to the appropriate public paediatric health service for your area, whether that is the Women's and Children's, Flinders, Lyell McEwin or Modbury Hospitals or a lower-cost private service.
Managing during the wait for an appointment- Options and Resources
We understand the difficulties created by long wait times. Paediatricians may suggest seeing an allied health therapist or another paediatric sub-specialist as a first step. Our website has links to services, resources or programs that may assist your child here.
APPOINTMENT REQUEST FORM:
Please complete the request for an appointment with any associated provider.