Consultation & Booking Surgery

Your first visit

This consultation will take about half an hour and will involve a physical examination.

Usually, the nurse will take you into the consultation room and spend 5 or 10 minutes taking a brief medical history before Dr Walter sees you. During your consultation, Dr Walter will discuss your condition and treatment options with you. If surgery is to be considered, then arrangements can be made for this.

It might be a good idea to write a list of things you want to mention to Dr Walter, so you can be sure to cover all your concerns and questions.

You will need to bring -

• A referral from your GP or other medical specialist
• Your Medicare card
• Health fund membership card
• Your x-rays and any other scans
• List of medications (if appropriate)
• Your list of questions for Dr Walter

There is a charge for this consultation, part of which you can claim back from Medicare. This fee is payable at the time of consultation.

Booking your surgery

If you need to have surgery, our nurse and administrative staff will work out a suitable date. If you are in a lot of pain, you may wish to have the surgery as quickly as possible, in which case we will find you the first available surgery date, or you can plan a date down the track which works best for you in terms of taking leave from work, having family/friends around to support you.

Complete paperwork for the Mater Hospital

Once you have decided upon your surgery date, you will need to complete the following forms, which you may already have been given at your consultation:

1. Consent for reconstructive joint surgery form (to be signed by you and by your surgeon)
2. The Mater Admission Form (to be signed by you and by your surgeon)
3. The Mater Admission Assessment Form

Or by mail:

To contact the Mater Hospital Admissions Office by phone, call (02) 9900 7396 or visit the Mater Hospital website at www.matersydney.com.au

Pre-admission Clinic

Pre ad clinic nurses will contact you to make time for you to be assessed pre-operatively. If you need to contact the Pre-ad clinic for some reason, they can be reached at 9900 7494.

Understand the costs of your surgery

You will be given a quote for the cost of the primary surgeon (Dr Walter) and the assistant surgeon. Prior to your surgery you will need to sign and return this paperwork to our rooms.  We will invoice Medicare and your Fund directly. You will receive cheques which you should forward onto us together with payment for your out-of-pocket expenses (which can be paid by cheque, cash or credit card).