About your FPQ clinic

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Clinic services

All types of contraception including:

• emergency contraception
• hormonal methods including pills, implants and injections
• diaphragm fitting
• Intrauterine devices (IUD) assessment and insertion [ More information about IUD insertions ]
• condoms
• vasectomy information [ More information about the Brisbane vasectomy service ]

Contraceptive Mail Order Services

All types of sexual health checks including:

• testing and treatment for sexually transmissible infections (STIs)
• HIV testing
• information about prevention of STIs

Other services include:

• Pap smears
• breast examinations
• pre-pregnancy planning
• pregnancy testing and counselling
• menopause assessment and information
• subfertility assessment and information
• sexual difficulties assessment and information
• menstrual problems

When are we open ?

Doctors and nurses are available by appointment for confidential consultations during weekdays. Some clinics have times when you can drop in to see a doctor or nurse without an appointment. [ FPQ clinic locations ]

If required, an interpreter can be booked for you when you make an appointment.

Who do we see ?

Women and men of all ages are welcome at FPQ. We offer confidential sexual and reproductive health services.

As a client of a health service, young people have the right to confidential health care provision, including contraception.

FPQ nurses and doctors support young people to make informed decisions about their sexual health and relationships.

Confidentiality

FPQ takes protecting your private health information very seriously. Our staff will talk with you about your health and collect personal health information when you visit a clinic. This helps provide a quality service. The information you provide will not be given to anyone else, including your parents, partner, friends or other family members, without your consent. FPQ staff are not allowed to give out information about what is discussed during a visit to the clinic.

In exceptional circumstances, clinical staff may need to discuss or pass on information to someone else. For instance, staff are required to notify relevant authorities if a young person, under the age of 18, is considered to be at serious risk of harm. Even so, staff will usually discuss this with the young person first and obtain consent to do so.

If you have concerns about anything related to your private health information, please feel free to speak to our staff and/or your treating clinician.

Full details of the FPQ privacy policy can be viewed online at: www.fpq.com.au/pdf/ClinicPrivacyPolicy.pdf or a staff member can provide a copy.

How much does a clinic visit cost?

FPQ does not charge a fee for clinical consultations. However, some services, special tests or pharmaceuticals may have associated costs. These include intrauterine devices (IUDs) and/or hormonal implant insertions and removals.

We also offer a range of prescription and non-prescription contraceptive items at reasonable prices.

FPQ receives some funding from Queensland Health to support the operation of our clinics but we rely significantly upon donations to ensure services are available to those most in need. We are different to general practitioner clinics in that Medicare does not fund our clinical services.

When you attend a clinic, a staff member will ask for a small donation ($5 - $20). The donation is voluntary and if you do make a donation, it is tax deductible. These donations are very important to us as they supplement the funding of our services. However, we understand if you are not able to provide a donation.

Clinical training

An important part of our work includes supporting qualified doctors and nurses undertake specialised training in sexual and reproductive health. Occasionally, we also have medical and nursing students at FPQ.

They train in our clinics under the supervision of FPQ staff so that they develop higher level skills in providing sexual and reproductive health services.

This may mean that you could have an additional doctor or nurse (or student doctor or nurse) present during your consultation.

We will first ask if you are willing to have this person involved in your care. Please advise the receptionist or any staff member if you do not wish to have any other person involved in your care.

Your comments help us to improve our service

It is pleasing to hear when we have done well but we know things may not always go as planned. We encourage you to tell us if you are unhappy with our services.

If you feel uncomfortable at any time during your visit to FPQ, please immediately advise the staff member you are seeing.

If you do not want to do this, you may ask to speak with the Clinic Coordinator. The Clinic Coordinator will listen and ask you for details about your concerns and then follow up with appropriate action.

You may also put your complaint in writing to our CEO. Please outline the details of what happened and the steps you would like taken to address your concerns. Please address any written complaint to:

Chief Executive Officer
Family Planning Queensland
PO Box 215, Fortitude Valley, Q 4006

If you still feel the problem has not been resolved to your satisfaction, you can contact:

Health Quality and Complaints Commission (HQCC)
GPO Box 3089, Brisbane Q 4001
Telephone (07) 3120 5999
Toll free call 1800 077 308

This is an independent organisation. One of the Commission’s functions is to deal with complaints involving health professionals and organisations.