What to expect when taking your child to a GP Respiratory Clinic
Free for everyone, with or without a Medicare card, GP Respiratory Clinics in South Australia are available to support the assessment of people experiencing mild to moderate respiratory symptoms.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The respiratory clinics at Parkside, Pooraka, Athelstone and Reynella closed on 31 December 2022.
Have you had sick kids or been unwell yourself but you’ve tested negative for Covid so you’d like to see a Doctor? However, you can’t get an appointment with your family Doctor or any medical practice because of the strict rules regarding respiratory symptoms. Basically if you have any of these symptoms no matter how mild they may be, you can’t enter most medical clinics to see a Doctor:
- fever
- cough
- running nose
- nausea
- sore throat
- sore ears
- sinus pain
- loss of smell or taste
- diarrhoea
- vomiting
- rashes
The thing is my kids have been constantly sick this Winter and there’s usually at least one of these symptoms rearing it’s ugly head. And to be honest, I pretty much always feel like I have a sore throat! Visiting one of these Respiratory Clinics was really handy recently when one of the kids was sick for many days.
Here is a little bit of info about them:
- These clinics offer face-to-face and Telehealth assessment of symptoms and initial advice, with ongoing care transitioned back to your GP following the appointment.
- No referral is needed and you can book online or over the phone. Strictly by appointment only.
- As part of a new SA Health Respiratory Pathway there will be an increase in the availability of appointments and expansion of services at metropolitan GP Respiratory Clinics. This will provide an alternative to accessing care for people who are unable to get an appointment with their regular GP.
What to expect at a Respiratory Clinic (Review 2022)
Visiting a Respiratory Clinic is a little bit different to seeing a Doctor at a medical practice. Just so you know what to expect, this was our experience recently when I took my child to the Adelaide Central Respiratory Clinic at Parkside.
We booked online and it was a very easy process. Unlike our local medical practice we were actually able to find an available time on the same day. A confirmation with instructions was sent to my mobile phone.
When we arrived at the Clinic we sent an SMS to the mobile number they provided to let them know we were there. You must wait in the car until you receive a message or call from them to advise when an assessment room is ready.
Once we received the text message (only a couple of minutes later), we were asked to wait outside at the back door. There are strict instructions that you must not touch the door.
A clinic staff member came to the door to let us in. At the entrance there is sanitiser to use on your hands and you must put on a face mask (they had some there in case you forgot to bring one).
We were then led to an assessment room. All staff in the clinic wear full protective gear, much like the staff at the Covid Testing Stations that we are all familiar with.
The assessment room is a little different to what you normally expect at a medical centre when seeing a Doctor. It’s a small room with very little inside. There were 2 chairs and little sink in the corner. On the wall, directly opposite the chairs where we sat, was a little video camera.
It is through the camera that you communicate with the Doctor. We spoke to the Doctor via the camera – we could only hear the Doctor speaking – we couldn’t see her – but I assume she could see us.
Once she had assessed my son by asking a number of questions, the Doctor then came into the room and checked him physically – listening to his breathing with a stethoscope, checking his ears – the usual things.
After the Doctor had left, a nurse then came in and did a Respiratory Viral Swab test (done in the same way as a Covid test) so they could check for different respiratory illnesses and Covid. We received the results by SMS (which was negative) about 24 hours later.
The whole process was pretty quick – there was very little waiting. It was all very well organised. We exited the clinic from a different door onto Glen Osmond Road and walked around to the back of the clinic where the car park is. There is plenty of free parking available in the large car park.
LOCATIONS
The Commonwealth funds four GP Respiratory Clinics within the Adelaide metropolitan area including:
- Adelaide Central Respiratory Clinic
- North Eastern Respiratory Clinic / Northern Vaccination Clinic
- Reynella Respiratory and Vaccine Clinic
- Athelstone Respiratory COVID Clinic
These clinics are supported by Adelaide PHN – CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO
Other pathways for South Australians to access COVID care include:
- Child and Adolescent Virtual Urgent Care Service & the 24-hour Health Direct phone line – 1800 022 222
- Priority Care Centres across metropolitan Adelaide and the SA Virtual Care Service
- Find after-hours GP services across Adelaide HERE
- National Coronavirus Hotline – 1800 020 080
FOR MORE INFORMATION AND ALL ENQUIRIES PLEASE VISIT THE SA HEALTH WEBSITE.
Women’s and Children’s Child and Adolescent Virtual Urgent Care Service
At Play & Go Adelaide we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.
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