The Gastroenterology team manages conditions that are primarily related to the gastrointestinal tract and liver.
What do we do?
The most common gastroenterology conditions that we treat relate to:
- Liver disease and cirrhosis due to various causes, including alcohol and hepatitis B/C
- Inflammatory bowel disease, such as Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative Colitis
- Irritable bowel disease and chronic abdominal pain
- Coeliac disease
- Investigation of bleeding from the bowel
Who do we care for?
Our team cares for patients with conditions requiring a specialist gastroenterology opinion.
If you have multiple medical conditions, we may provide advice relating to gastroenterology issues to general physicians, surgeons or your GP.
Our team does not generally care for patients currently under the care of a private gastroenterologist or another public hospital. This helps to maintain continuity of care for patients.
What can you expect?
You can expect an initial assessment and a follow-up visit, if needed.
Some conditions require repeat visits for monitoring and for the specialist to arrange prescriptions for certain medications.
Repeat visits may also be needed to arrange referrals for infusions or medication via the medical day unit.
If your symptoms or condition are stable, routine appointments can be provided by your GP.
If we identify that you require a service that is not available at Ballarat Health Services, you may be referred to another service provider for treatment.
We do our best to streamline patients into the most appropriate clinic or service.
How can you access this service?
A referral from a GP is needed to access this clinic. A referral requires clinical information:
- Reason for referral
- Duration of symptoms and current symptoms
- Relevant pathology and imaging reports
- Past medical history
- Current Medications and allergies
Essential referral content will be checked and you may be contacted, if further information is required.
The referral is triaged by the specialist unit according to clinical urgency. This determines how long the patient will have to wait for an appointment.
Patients with urgent conditions are scheduled to be seen within 30 days. Patients with routine conditions are given the next available appointment according to clinical need.
There is no out-of-pocket expense to the patient as this is a MBS-billed service. This service requires a current referral to a named specialist - please provide a 12-month referral addressed to the specialist of your choice.
You may be seen by another specialist in that clinic, in order to expedite your treatment.
If you are concerned about the delay of an appointment or if there is any deterioration in your condition, please have your doctor contact the Gastroenterology Registrar on call 03 5320 4000.
What do you need for your appointment?
Patients will be required to have a current valid referral letter.
If you are given an appointment and no longer need to see the specialist, please contact us to discuss your needs.
Referral Process
A referral requires clinical information. The essential demographic referral requirements as per statewide referral guide:
- Reason for referral
- Duration of symptoms and current symptoms
- Relevant pathology and imaging reports
- Past medical history
- Current Medications and allergies
Essential referral content will be checked and you may be contacted if further information is required.
The referral is triaged by the specialist unit according to clinical urgency. This determines how long the patient will have to wait for an appointment.
Patients with urgent conditions are scheduled to be seen within 30 days. Patients with routine conditions are given the next available appointment according to clinical need.
Additional Information
Some clinics offer an MBS-billed service. There is no out of pocket expense to the patient. MBS-billed services require a current referral to a named specialist– please provide your patient with a 12 month referral addressed to the specialist of your choice.
Please note: your patient may be seen by another specialist in that clinic, in order to expedite their treatment.
Please note: The times to assessment may vary depending on the triage. It is particularly important that we have enough information to be able to triage appropriately to general surgery versus gastroenterology, and also to determine if direct referral to endoscopy is the most appropriate option.
If you are concerned about the delay of an outpatient appointment or if there is any deterioration in the patient’s condition, please contact the Gastroenterology Registrar on call 03 5320 4000.
Discussion with the registrar or sending a follow up referral may save your patient a visit to the Emergency Department (ED).
Referrals from ED staff are triaged in the same way as referrals from GPs with the clinical urgency rather than the source of the referral being taken into consideration.
After Hours Information
After hours the medical registrar or surgical registrar is the appropriate contact. The gastroenterology unit does not provide an after hours on call service nor a Gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding service. Referrals are directed via the surgical team in the first instance.
Ballarat Base Hospital
Location
1 Drummond Street North
Ballarat VIC 3350
Phone
BHS Specialist Clinics – 03 5320 4221
Opening Hours
Gastroenterology Clinics - Tuesday and Thursday.
Endoscopy Sessions in Gastroenterology - Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
Have something to tell us? We welcome all feedback from patients, family members or carers. Tell us more.