However now I am told its no longer bulk billing..
I have small kids and not sure where to go, isnt there regulation that councils needs to have a specified bulk billing med centres
Dr Townsend is the best. Others are just average. Wait times can be upto 3 hrs.. my wife waited w a sick child for 2.5 hrs.. the next day he was in hospital

I wet there today (Sunday) saw a dr for 3 mins and had to pay $40 and Medicare will pay the other $45 of the consultation- meaning the Dr got $85 for the 3 minutes he spent with me!

I was also told today there is a fee of $40.00 (not $30) with no explanantion and no idea who can provide bulk billing in the same area..Shocker! This country is getting from bad to worse! BANANA REPUBLIC

I went today and they told me that from now on there is a fee of $30.00
not refundable by medicare ????? that is not good enough ...

The previous reviewer has been a bit unkind although he does make some relevant points.

My experience with waiting has tended to be short ( less than 20 mins even on a Saturday). The doctors are varied and do have english as there second language, but at no time have I found there to be a problem with communication.

Certainly the decor although not excellent is no worse than any other bulk billing office I have attended. Indeed, considering the high turnover of patients it could be a lot worse. As to the reviewers personal experiences I cant make any comment.

Where they do fall down drastically though is in there description as being a 24 hour medical centre. It beggars belief that they can be legally allowed to be called that. The chances of someone trying to get medical attention there late at night to find they are closed by 10:00 pm is just courting tragedy. I found when ringing at night to see if they were open, when needing medical attention, I was met with a voice recording saying no one is available to answer the phone with no further information offered. Simply not good enough.

The only other comment I can make is not to do with the centre itself, but in a situation where a city with 4 million people has little to no after hours medical facilities available for anything less than emergency hospital treatment. Surely Sydney deserves better.

At most bulk-billing, public medical centres you are expect to wait some time to be seen to by a general practitioner, but at Chatswood some time becomes long time, correction, a very long time.
Combining the wait with the uncomfortable and unhygenic waiting room, which always seems to run out of available seats, a mere presence in the building can enhance one's feeling of illness.
The chairs are dated and made of uncomfortable, dirt harbouring material and are poorly designed.They would be better suited to the waiting room of a used car sales yard. With all the soot and grease on the armrests, it would appear as though this is where the chairs were bought from!

One can forget about even attempting to see a doctor they are familliar with, doctors go in and out of that centre like turn styles at a shopping mall.
Not to mention the doctors show little concern if any to the condition a patient is in, unless the patient appears like they're about to die, and in that case they'd prbably tell the patient to dial an ambulance away from their offfice, so they can see more patients and make more money.
Despite the doctor's constant urge, the waiting lines never seem to dissapate, I witnessed one line back up all the way out the exit of the building, and this was at 2:00pm!!

Many doctors are straight from overseas, with lack of english speaking or writing skill, which can further confuse and put fear into patients.

There is no system for the urgency of seeing a patient, so if a child with potential meningitis is brought through the doors, he/she will have to wait at the back of the line behind the many hopochondriacts and elderly people with nothing but death on their minds who are just wasting up time and resources.

Now if you are wanting to see a specialist you can! But, in the Chatswood medical centre even if you schedule an appointment 2 months in advanced, on the day you arrive at your designated timeslot, you can usually expect to be waiting another 1-2 hours on top of that, so you can forget about making any other plans for your day!
The skin specialist, DR LEE, is especially rough and inconsiderate, he merely glances upon the symtoms you show and then evicts you out of the office so you can pay and make a booking for future surgery, so he can see and rip off more patients.
This centre does not accept cheque!
After receiving minor facial surgery from this doctor, I was manhandled out of the operating chair, given a cotton bud to apply to my wond and told to wait back in the waiting room as he saw more patients. The doctor could not tell me what stage of the procedure I was in, and if my wounds would even heal then handed me a band aid and pushed me out the door.

Most obsurd, despite the name 24 Hour Medical Centre, this is not the case, I have heard a few cases of people trying to see a doctor here in the late hours to find that the centre was shut.

Beware of the Chatswood "25 hour" medical centre.ooki