I want to write this in the first person, because I think the reasons we're a private clinic are worth being honest about rather than hidden behind a fees page.
What 'fully private' actually means
It means three things:
- No bulk billing. Not for anyone, in any circumstance.
- No Medicare rebate claimable for the consultation. You cannot submit our invoice to Medicare for partial reimbursement.
- No private health insurance cover. Out-patient general practice consultations are not insurable under Australian private health rules, and we don't bill any insurer on your behalf.
You pay the fee, in full, before treatment commences. We give you a receipt. That's the entire financial transaction.
The maths — what the rebate actually covers
A standard after-hours GP consultation under the Medicare Benefits Schedule pays a rebate of around $70 to $95, depending on the item used and the time of night. That is what the Commonwealth pays a doctor for seeing an after-hours patient.
Running a fully-equipped urgent-care clinic for fourteen hours overnight — with a doctor, a nurse, an on-call admin, suturing kits ready, dressings stocked, a slit lamp, an ECG, sterilisation, professional indemnity, premises, electronic records, payment systems — costs several thousand dollars a night before the first patient walks in. On a quiet midweek night we see 12–14 patients. The rebate, on its own, doesn't fund that.
If we accepted the rebate as full payment, we would need to see 30+ patients every single night to break even — which is neither realistic on demand grounds nor compatible with the slow, calm, properly-listened-to consultations our patients actually need.
Why we don't bill private health insurance
Private health insurance covers in-hospital care — operating theatres, ward stays, surgical procedures. Australian private health rules specifically exclude routine out-patient general-practice consultations from cover. So even if we billed your insurer, they would decline payment. The cleanest answer is to charge a transparent fee and let you know exactly what to expect.
The trade-off we are making for patients
We deliberately accept a smaller patient base — many patients can't or won't pay a private fee, and that is a legitimate choice. In exchange, the patients who do pay get:
- A clinic that is open every night, 6 pm to 8 am, including weekends and public holidays.
- A typical visit of 30 to 60 minutes door to door.
- A doctor with the time to actually listen.
- Procedural scope that most after-hours services don't offer — suturing, splinting, foreign-body removal, in-clinic urinalysis.
- An honest triage call before you pay anything, so you know we're the right place.
How we keep fees fair
I have set our fees deliberately at the lower end of the comparable private market — $250 + GST walk-in, $350 + GST home visit. Most comparable private urgent-care clinics in Melbourne charge $290 to $400+ for a similar visit. We will never charge a facility fee on top of the consultation, and we always quote any procedural extras before opening a sterile pack.
If cost is a barrier
Please go to Box Hill or Austin Hospital ED. They are publicly funded and free for Medicare card holders. We will never push someone to pay for care they cannot afford, and I have no hesitation telling a patient on the phone that ED is the right call for them tonight. The fact we are private is an operational decision, not a moral position.
A closing note
Running a small after-hours clinic is not a path to wealth. It is, for me, a path to keeping the lights on at 11 pm for the patient with a sutured wound that won't wait until morning. If you've read this far, thank you for taking the time to understand the model. If you have questions, I'm easy to find — at the clinic, 6 pm to 8 am.
— Dr Kwan Lee, founding doctor, Manningham After-hours Emergency Care