Dr Stephen Southgate

About

Dr Stephen Southgate has reduced his hours of practice for personal reasons to 3 days per week. He now consults only on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Working 8 – 12 am & 2 – 4 pm on those days.

Dr Southgate will also be taking 3 months leave from 1st January 2024, returning on 1st April 2024.|
He apologises to his patients for any inconvenience this may cause.

Dr Southgate will be PRIVATELY BILLING all patients from February 1st, 2023.

Dr Stephen Southgate has thirty-five years of experience working as a doctor in various roles in Western Australia after graduating from the University of Western Australia.

He has spent the last 30 years in metropolitan General Practice. Dr Southgate enjoys all aspects of general practice and is passionate about achieving the best health outcomes for his patients. He has experience working with patients of all age groups and backgrounds in the modern general practice environment.

Billing:

Unfortunately, Dr Southgate has found that his long-standing practice of bulk-billing certain groups of patients is no longer viable because Medicare Rebates have not kept pace with inflation over many years now. Hence, Dr Southgate has reluctantly taken the decision to privately bill all patients except Department of Veteran’s Affairs patients From February 1st, 2023. This includes existing patients and those newly registering at the practice, as well as patients who wish to transfer their care to Dr Southgate from other doctors within the practice. Certain patient groups will however be given a discount on the full private fee as below.

There will also be a $5.00 increase in the full private fee for consultations with Dr Southgate from February 1st, 2023. Hence the standard (Level B) consultation fee will increase from $85.00 to $90.00. A long (Level C) consultation fee will increase from $160.00 to $165.00 etc.

The following billing arrangements will apply for Dr Southgate’s patients from February 1st, 2023:

1. All patients who do not fall into the groups below will be billed the full private fee for services provided. This includes those with Commonwealth Government Seniors Cards.
2. All patients on Pensions and Children 12 and under will receive a $30.00 discount on the full private Fee amount.
3. All patients on Centrelink Health Care Cards who do not fall into group 2 will receive a $20.00 discount on the usual Private Fee.
4. All patients are recommended to undergo the relevant, Medicare-funded Health Assessments (e.g., annually for patients over the age of 75) and preparation of GP Management Plans for those with chronic medical conditions, often requiring more complex, multidisciplinary care – these services are bulk-billed for everyone. These additional services add to the value of the care we provide and improve long term health outcomes.
5. All Department of Veteran’s Affairs patients whose conditions are covered by the Department of Veteran’s Affairs will continue to be bulk billed.
6. All consultations related to Workers Compensation and Insurance Commission of WA claims will be billed privately and will need to be paid for by the patient at the time of consultation until their claim has been accepted by the third-party insurer.
7. On Saturday mornings Dr Southgate will continue his current practice of privately bill ALL patients the full private fee without exceptions.
8. Any patients experiencing genuine financial hardship are requested to discuss their situation with Dr Southgate. Fees may be reduced on a case-by-case basis at the doctor’s discretion.