Health information

Ambulance

Websites for health information

Mental health - urgent help

General information about health and disease

Musculoskeletal health (bones, joints, muscles)

Nervous system health

Ambulance

There are no Medicare rebates for attendance by Paramedics, or for transport by Ambulance.

The average cost of emergency transport is more than $1100.

On attending St Kilda Medical Group, if you, or your child, is seriously ill, or at risk of rapid deterioration in condition, your GP will send you or your child to hospital from St Kilda Medical Group by Ambulance. Transport by Ambulance is the safest way of being transferred to hospital, as patients can be stabilised before transport, and monitored and treated on the way to hospital. Ambulance transport from St Kilda Medical Group to hospital is charged to the patient. Transport from GP clinics is not discounted or free.

The same applies if an Ambulance attends you (or your child) at your home, whether a GP has called the Ambulance or you have called the Ambulance.

Ambulance costs are covered if you have Ambulance Victoria membership.

St Kilda Medical Group strongly recommends that patients have Ambulance Victoria membership. This covers the costs of ambulance transport (by road and by air), and the costs of attendance and treatment by Paramedics when transport to hospital is not required. Members are also covered for these services when travelling interstate (but not when travelling overseas).

One year Ambulance Victoria membership costs $48.35 for a single membership, and $96.70 for a family membership.

Follow this link to get further information about Ambulance Victoria membership. You can make secure payment online through the website.

Ambulance Victoria membership may not be necessary to cover Ambulance costs if one of the following applies to you:

You have private health cover. Some private health funds cover Ambulance costs - please contact your private health fund to check if this is covered.

You are a Health Card Card (HCC) holder, or Pensioner Concession Card (PCC) holder, or Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) Gold Card holder. These cards entitle you to get free clinically necessary ambulance cover throughout Australia.
Your Ambulance transport is after a car accident, or after a workplace injury. The costs may be covered by TAC and by WorkCover respectively.

However, to cover Ambulance costs for attendance and transport that's not related to a car accident or to a workplace injury, you require Ambulance Victoria membership, or private health fund ambulance cover, or you need to have a PCC, HCC, or DVA Gold Card. Otherwise, you'll be liable to pay the Ambulance costs.

Websites for health information

The internet provides access to an overwhelming mass of information and advice about health, disease, diagnosis, and treatment.

It can be difficult to work out if the information is safe, accurate and relevant. There can be problems with 'context' and 'perspective' when interpreting information obtained from internet sources. 'Context' means that the significance of a health problem or symptom can depend on the patient's age, gender, ethnicity, and general health. 'Perspective' means that information may focus on uncommon conditions rather than on the more likely and common conditions.

It's great that so much information and advice is available - however, it makes sense to be cautious when looking for information on the internet.

The following sites are good starting points for health information that's based on evidence, accurate, up to date, and relevant. Please let me know if you find any other useful resources for health information and I will add them to this list if appropriate.

St Kilda Medical Group cannot accept responsibility for any consequences from actions taken based on the content of these websites.