# Bloods taken in Aus?



## Lisa0670 (Jul 18, 2010)

Hi,

Im planning on taking a year out for travelling, however i have Ulcerative Colitis and take medication to control this. As a result i have my bloods tested every 2 months to monitor my condition. I was wondering if anyone knew how easy it would be for me to get these blood tests done in Aus and if it was possible just to walk into any doctors surgery and ask for these tests? Any info would be great! Thanks!


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## Wanderer (Jun 16, 2007)

Lisa0670 said:


> Hi,
> 
> Im planning on taking a year out for travelling, however i have Ulcerative Colitis and take medication to control this. As a result i have my bloods tested every 2 months to monitor my condition. I was wondering if anyone knew how easy it would be for me to get these blood tests done in Aus and if it was possible just to walk into any doctors surgery and ask for these tests? Any info would be great! Thanks!


In principle there are various blood testing services and there are likely different companies depending on what state you are in.
In larger towns and cities the premises you go to could be a stand alone service and in many locations it'll be the local practice/clinic that could have someone specifically for blood tests sample collection or they would have a doctor or experienced nursing sister do it.
It'll not likely be as straightforward as a walk in and having a sample taken for many doctors practices can have closed books re new patients depending on what their workload is and for wherever you can get an appointment with a doctor, it could be a few days to a week or more ahead that you need to book, just depending on the ebb and flow of patients because of bugs or whatever else happening in the community.
The further of the beaten track you get could also affect just what services are available and it's not unknown for smaller country towns to be without a doctor at times.
I was looking for a register and came across Blood Testing which probably has more detail than you need and I haven't perused it to see if there is a state by state listing but it may help.


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## Lisa0670 (Jul 18, 2010)

Thanks very much! Hoping to spend the majority of my time in Melbourne (find work etc) before heading up the east coast. Someone suggested registering with a practice there! Would this be something i had to wait until i got there to do? And how easy would this be?

Sorry for the million questions, my surgery here didnt have much answers for me!


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## Wanderer (Jun 16, 2007)

Lisa0670 said:


> Thanks very much! Hoping to spend the majority of my time in Melbourne (find work etc) before heading up the east coast. Someone suggested registering with a practice there! Would this be something i had to wait until i got there to do? And how easy would this be?
> 
> Sorry for the million questions, my surgery here didnt have much answers for me!


Registering with a practice either beforehand or on arrival is a good idea and you'll obviously want to have something of a referral or doctor to doctor type letter to make the process easiest.
The link I provided above does have a state by state reference you can locate from the menu on left of home page but having had a quick look that site may deal more with state health department/hospital located services.

I was aware of a pathology service in Victoria and it seems they have been gobbled up into a nationwide service and some of those even have international ownership interests but Primary Health Care - About Us : Company Overview is probably worth a look for they also have all state services and even medical practices but it is something of a weird site for though they give some name detail for pathology services, they do not seem to give location details for the practices.
Ít could be tucked away there somewhere and if not there's a contact provision and you could ask the question and perhaps even arrange for a doctor to doctor history transfer or whatever.
The practice here for blood tests is that you will need an initial Australian doctors reference and because our blood testing is covered by medicare, unless you're from the UK or somewhere with reciprocal benefits, there's going to be a fee for each one, no real idea but quite possibly in the $100+ range I'd suspect and the initial doctors appointment will be getting up to around $100 also.

Are you coming on a Working Holiday Visa btw, for without some form of a visa that allows working, you'll not legally be able to.


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## Lisa0670 (Jul 18, 2010)

Sorry, I havent been able to get on for a while.

Yeah, im from Scotland. Am going to be doing the OzIntro programme when i arrive in sydney. Through this, i get a working visa which will allow me to pick up temp work while away and also gives me a medicard!

If i can register with a practice before leaving, i think i will def try to do that! Rather have piece of mind that everything is sorted so i dont have to worry about it when i get there!

Sorry for all the questions. How does the medicard work? Will i need to pay for all my appointments/treatments and then claim money back or do i just pay cheaper rates instead? Thanks


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## Wanderer (Jun 16, 2007)

Lisa0670 said:


> Sorry, I havent been able to get on for a while.
> 
> Yeah, im from Scotland. Am going to be doing the OzIntro programme when i arrive in sydney. Through this, i get a working visa which will allow me to pick up temp work while away and also gives me a medicard!
> 
> ...


When you arrive, as a uk citizen and the reciprocal medical benefits, just find your nearest Medicare office, usually a few in capital city areas and often located in major shopping centres.
Probably be a listing somewhere on Medicare Australia
And you'll be able to get a medicare card one way or another.
How practices operate is up to them and some are set up so you just pay a reduced fee and others may have you pay the full fee and then you take your paid account to a medicare office and get the refund.
And then there are a few that may bulk bill and you pay no fee at all.


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## Lisa0670 (Jul 18, 2010)

Thank you very much. Your information has been much appreciated. It is beginning to sound a possible task now. Just need to find a practice to register with. Have emailed someone from your previous link to see if the practice would offer the blood tests i would require and whether i can do it from here, or if i would need to have an Aus address first!

Hopefully they will get back to me and I can get going with it! Will feel much better heading for my travells knowing this is all sorted!

Thanks again


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## Wanderer (Jun 16, 2007)

It should be no big deal even to do when out here Lisa but if you have something set up beforehand, than all the better.
Re the Oz Intro, if you haven't yet signed up you could save yourself some money with DIY as most people get the WHV online themselves as it's very easy and usually a reply within a few days if not in hours - Visa Options - Working Holiday - Visas & Immigration
Their speel on work is usually they giving you some agency contacts I suspect and there'll be no guarantee of having a job for you and that'll be up to yourself.
You'll find that just about every planeload from the UK will have a goodly % of young and not so young people with backpacks or whatever all heading downunder and a good chance the check in queue is as good a place as any to meet new travelling chums.


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## Lisa0670 (Jul 18, 2010)

Thanks for all the info! yeah already signed up to the Ozintro....first time travelling so thought would make the first week easy and join a group! Looks good though, and helps with looking for jobs too etc!

Do you need to have an australian address before you can register with a practice? As here you need an address before you can do anything like that! Can wait to leave now!


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## Wanderer (Jun 16, 2007)

Lisa0670 said:


> Thanks for all the info! yeah already signed up to the Ozintro....first time travelling so thought would make the first week easy and join a group! Looks good though, and helps with looking for jobs too etc!
> 
> Do you need to have an australian address before you can register with a practice? As here you need an address before you can do anything like that! Can wait to leave now!


Registering is nothing really official and if you do get someone responding to you, it'll be more just having you down as a first time patient and having a first appointment for you if you can nominate a date.
They'll probably leave it until you arrive to have you fill out a registration form and you'll want to have your Medicare card first so give yourself a few days for jetlag recovery and getting into medicare for registering with them before you have an appointment.


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## Lisa0670 (Jul 18, 2010)

Thanks!

Think im all sorted! Just counting down now!


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