Latest update 4 November 2022
Please observe this page and all exterior and interior signage at our centre for the latest updates.
Visiting HANDOC at the Western Australian Plastic Surgery Centre
Our priority is keeping our staff and you – our patients – safe.
Please read our current guidelines below before you come to our centre and you should also follow any screening and entry requirements outlined at the entry points of St John of God Hospital Subiaco and St John of God Wexford Medical Centre.
We ask for your cooperation with any requests made by our team, based off current state advice and guidelines. Please note these guidelines may change at any time.
All our staff are trained and dedicated to serve you and you will be treated with courtesy and respect at all times. In return, we ask that you and anyone that you bring with you to the centre treat our administrative and clinical staff with the same courtesy and respect.
We have a zero tolerance approach to any verbal, aggressive and violent abuse and behaviour towards our staff or other patients. We respectfully advise you that any abusive, intimidating, aggressive or violent behaviour will not be tolerated. This includes refusing to cooperate with any requests made by our team.
If a patient or anyone a patient brings with them to the centre is abusive, intimidating, aggressive or violent towards our staff and/or other patients, they will be asked to leave the centre immediately.
Who should not come to the centre?
To ensure your own safety and that of others, patients must please follow the below guidelines:
- If you have tested positive for COVID-19:
- Please contact us for advice and possible deferment of your appointment until 24 hours after “acute symptoms” have passed. You must not attend the centre without contacting us first.
- If you are approved to enter the centre within the 7 day period of testing positive, you must wear a surgical mask.
- If you are unwell in any way (including with a sore throat, fever, shortness of breath, loss of smell or cough), or if you are a close contact of someone who has tested positive and you now have symptoms, you must take a rapid antigen test (RAT) at home prior to attending the centre.
- If you test positive for COVID-19, please follow the above instructions for testing positive.
- If you test negative for COVID-19, please contact us prior to attending the centre. Depending on the nature of your visit, we may need to defer your appointment. If approved to enter the centre, you must wear a surgical mask.
- If you are a close contact of someone who has tested positive but you have no symptoms:
- For 7 days after becoming a close contact, you should not attend the centre except for urgent medical care or treatment (e.g. urgent surgery or postop nurse appointments).
- Please notify us before attending and if approved to attend, you must have a negative RAT prior to arrival and must wear a surgical mask.
- Non-urgent new consultations, reviews and hand therapy sessions should be deferred/rescheduled, or changed to Telehealth if appropriate.
You may call our reception team on (08) 9380 0333 should any of the above apply to you and our team will assist you to make suitable arrangements.
Can I bring others to my appointment?
Whilst we encourage patients to attend their appointments on their own wherever possible, visitors are permitted to accompany you to your appointment. This includes unvaccinated visitors.
Essential visitors (those who are required to attend with a minor or with a patient who requires special assistance) should not attend if they are feeling unwell. If they must attend, they must follow the same entry and testing requirements as patients.
Non-essential visitors must not attend the practice if they are feeling unwell or are a close contact of someone who has tested positive.
Visitors who are clearly symptomatic will be encouraged to leave.
Vaccination Policy
We encourage all West Australians, including our patients, to be vaccinated. The team at HANDOC are fully vaccinated.
Our surgeons continue to provide face-to-face consultations however, if you are unvaccinated and if appropriate for your care, our surgeons encourage Telehealth consultations via video-conferencing (e.g. Coviu, Skype, Zoom, Facetime etc) or telephone for when video-conferencing is not available.
Please contact us to discuss whether a Telehealth consultation will be suitable for you.
If you are scheduled to receive a vaccination, we recommend patients have a minimum of 14 days before or after a procedure with us and a vaccination. This is due to the fact vaccination can cause mild side effects such as fever or lethargy. If this is identified before a procedure, it may have to be cancelled. And if after a procedure, it may make recovery more difficult.
And the same guidelines apply to having the seasonal flu vaccination.
Recent Overseas or Interstate Travel
We urge all patients to follow the Government’s guidelines, including self-isolation following the return from any recent overseas or interstate travel. Please visit the WA Department of Health website for more information or call the National Coronavirus helpline on 1800 020 080.
If you have surgery planned, it is strongly recommended you do not travel with a return date less than four (4) weeks prior to your surgery date.
When Can I Undergo Surgery?
Patients with acute injuries requiring immediate surgery will generally have their surgery performed on the same day of their injury or soon thereafter, depending on the severity of the injury.
For elective surgeries, the WA Public Hospital system (including Public Private Partnership hospitals such as St John of God Midland) and Private Hospital system have resumed all elective surgery as of Friday 6 May 2022.
If your surgery is cancelled due to restrictions, illness or self-isolation of you or your surgeon, or if the hospital cannot operate on you, we will offer you the opportunity to reschedule your surgery to a later date.
COVID-19 Testing Before Surgery
At the hospitals we operate in, patients may be required to have a COVID-19 test before their upcoming surgery. You will be advised if this is a requirement, either by our practice or by the hospital where your surgery is planned.