Infectious Diseases Outpatient Clinic

 

We care for and treat people with infections that require specialist infectious diseases assessment and management.

 

We have two clinics:

 

An intravenous antibiotic therapy clinic for those with infections requiring antibiotic treatment that can be safely given at home administered by community nurses from Southcare. This might be a blood stream infection, or an infection involving bones and joints or the heart. Referral should be made directly to the infectious diseases specialist or doctor in training, and would usually be ongoing care after you have been cared for in Sutherland hospital.

 

An outpatient clinic attended by an infectious disease specialist and a doctor in training. This clinic provides management of infectious diseases problems for those who have been discharged from the hospital and require ongoing care, and people referred by their general practitioner. Appointments may be face-to-face in the clinic or by telehealth, with referrals as below.

Doctor

Clinical and Research Areas

Clinic Days 

Dr Robert Stevens 

Infectious diseases physician Thursday PM 
Dr Ben Knippenberg  Infectious disease physician and microbiologist Thursday PM 
Dr Roselle Robosa  Infectious disease physician and microbiologist Thursday PM 

 

Clinic Type  

Day of the week

Home Intravenous Antibiotic Therapy Clinic Tuesday AM
Infectious Diseases Thursday PM 

 

Infectious problems which we treat include:  

  • Bone and joint infections 
  • Heart infections 
  • Recurrent skin and soft tissue infections
  • Infections in travelers 
  • Infections requiring specialist care such as cryptococcal infection and Q fever.
  • Assessment of the need for preventive therapy against tuberculosis ·
  • Any infectious issue for which your general practitioner is recommending a specialist infectious diseases opinion but usually not those below.

Infections best seen by other specialist services:

  • Infections with hepatitis viruses are best cared for by a doctor with a special interest in liver infections.
  • People with HIV/AIDS are provided with a specialist surface by the Waratah Clinic at St George hospital phone 91132957
  • People with sexually transmitted infections are provided with a specialist service by the Short Street centre sexual health clinic at St George hospital, phone 91132742 
  • People with active tuberculosis are provided with a specialist service by the Chest Clinic at St George hospital 91132430

The process for referring a patient is:

  1. GP/referrer to send through referral via fax to 9540 8067. Access Referral Form Here 
  2. The referral will be checked to ensure it is valid. If not, extra information will be sourced from the referrer;
  3. If valid the referral will be triaged by the clinic doctor;
  4. Appointment made as per doctor’s recommendation ;
  5. Patient notified by confirmation letter as well as a reminder text or call 7 days prior to appointment.

A valid referral for Medicare billing purposes needs to be:

  1. Written by a medical practitioner in a private practice or an SMO
  2. Written to a named Doctor within the clinic
  3. Signed and dated by referring practitioner and include their Provider Number and place of practice
  4. Include length of referral, unless it is a 12 month referral
  5. Patient to have signed financial consent form.

We are a teaching hospital and you may be asked to be involved in research or for a medical student to be present at your appointment. You have a right to say no. If you do so this will not impact in any way on the services we will provide.

Is there a waiting list?

Yes

Waiting list details:

 All referrals are prioritised and allocated according to criteria.

If you hold a valid Medicare card the visit is Bulk Billed.

If you do not hold a Medicare card a fee will be charged on arrival, please contact the clinic for further information.

Please let us know if you need an interpreter. You can contact us telephoning the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS) on 131 450. Tell the operator what language you speak, and then ask the interpreter to set up a telephone conversation between you, an interpreter, and us on 9540 7067

 

More Info