FAQ

If you have a recent injury of your arm or leg Access Ortho can help you. You do not need to present to the Emergency Department for all fractures, sprains and strains. If your limb in not deformed (ie bent), there is no bone protruding from the skin, you did not also sustain a head or abdominal injury and you do not have acute active bleeding Access Ortho can assist you.

By contacting Access Ortho, you will avoid long waits in the emergency department, you will avoid high costs for private emergency departments and most importantly you will be assessed by a dedicate Orthopaedic team. We will be able to fit a cast or other device if required and we will make a follow up appointment in our specialist clinics. If you attend an ED, you will then have to find your own orthopaedic surgeon to follow you up and it can be weeks until you get an appointment. 

With Access Ortho you will be treated in the one clinic until you reach a full recovery.

Access Ortho is staffed by Orthopaedic Surgeons, Emergency Medicine Specialists, GP’s and Orthopaedic and Emergency Nurse Practitioners. 

At your first visit you will typically see the Orthopaedic and Emergency Nurse Practitioner. A nurse practitioner has initially trained as a registered nurse and then undertaken post graduate education (minimum of graduate certificate) in their specialty area in addition to specific NP master’s level education. Training and education include 5,000 hours of advanced practice prior to being endorsed by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. All the Nurse Practitioners in Access Ortho are specialists in orthopaedic care. All our Nurse Practitioners work in collaboration with the orthopaedic surgeons. Therefore, you are receiving specialist orthopaedic care at each visit. This process allows you to be assessed by an expert in orthopaedics and access orthopaedic consultant advice rapidly.

Access Ortho has approximately 3 orthopaedic specialist clinic per location per week. For your follow up care, you will be booked into a clinic with the Orthopaedic or emergency care consultant. This appointment will be booked at a time frame suitable for your injury management.

See our page for a full explanation of fees and charges. 

In summary, at your first appointment, after your Medicare rebate, you will be out of pocket $145. If required a follow-up appointment will be arranged in the clinic with our Orthopaedic or Emergency Specialists. Your first follow-up visit will be charged at $40 out of pocket, after your Medicare rebate. All future reviews will be bulk billed.

If you require surgery follow-up care will be with your surgeon who does the operation. 

Many orthopaedic injuries do not need surgery and can be managed in a cast, moon boot or with therapy. If you do need surgery, the team at Access Ortho will help arrange a referral for this. If you have private insurance, we can refer to a surgeon of your choice or one of the Access Ortho team or a surgeon that specialises in your injury who we will help you find. If you prefer to go through the public system the team will arrange a public referral and assist with this process. 

No, to attend our clinic you do not need a referral. We have nurse practitioners and orthopaedic surgeons on site, and we can arrange any required referral for you. Therefore you do not need to see your GP first, you can just call Access Ortho.

Absolutely your GP can refer you to our clinic.

Your GP is welcome to call our clinic directly to discuss your injury or simply provide you with a referral. We will then ensure that we send all correspondence regarding your care to your GP during your treatment. This will ensure they are part of your recovery process.

No you do not need private health insurance.

Private health insurance provides no benefits to your costs in an outpatient clinic. 

If you do not have private health insurance and you require surgery for your injury the doctors can refer you to the public hospital ensuring you have no expenses for your operation.

Some private health insurance cover will offer a rebate on immobilising splints. We will provide you with a receipt and letter to assist you to make a claim.

You can attend the ACCESS ORTHO clinic.

You will be responsible to pay your full account and then claim through your insurance company if they cover you for medical care. We will bill you at the same rate as Medicare and out of pocket rates. See our fees and charges for more details.

Yes we sell and fit moon boots, crutches, and other slings / splints.

If your GP or specialist doctor has recommended any of these, we can assist with this. For costs associated with this please call the clinic. Please ensure the doctor has written a letter with their request to ensure we provide the appropriate care.

Yes we can. However, we will need a full history of your injury and we will need to contact your treating doctor to ensure the alternative cast is appropriate for your injury or transfer your care to our orthopaedic surgeons to help make this decision. 

We use the EXOS splint for many upper limb fractures, these are a fabulolus light weight alternative to a plaster cast. 

Give our clinic a call and we will assist you to make the best decision regarding this.

You should immediately call our clinic and we will arrange for you to return to clinic ASAP to adjust it.

If this occurs after hours and is severe, please contact your nearest emergency department.

If you have sustained an injury and attended the ED or your GP, you have options for your follow up care. 

The most important thing is you arrange follow up care after an injury to ensure complications do not occur. However, if you would prefer to see Access Ortho rather than a public fracture clinic you certainly can book an appointment with us. 

In addition, if you cannot find a private orthopaedic surgeon to see you rapidly call Access Ortho and we will arrange a rapid appointment. 

Access Ortho can view most x-rays done within QLD radiology centres. We can also access many from other states. In addition, we can request radiology from public hospitals if we have the required information. 

On the occasions we cannot see your prior radiology we can refer you for new imaging. There are time you may require more imaging depending on your injury.

Contact us at ACCESS ORTHO, we can arrange an assessment and required radiology.

Access Ortho will ensure that we make a rapid treatment plan for their injury. If it is after hours and your child is comfortable, there are no signs of deformity, they have normal feeling in their limb and there are no other injuries there is usually not an immediate rush to seek treatment.

In this situation we recommend you click here BOOK NOW and monitor the injury closely. We will contact you after 8.30am to arrange a rapid appointment. After hours if anything changes or you are at all concerned present to your nearest emergency department.

We can refer for all radiology at Access Ortho.

We have a radiology practices located close to our clinics or we can refer you to a radiologist of your choice. Our medical staff can access x-rays and scans done at most radiology practises in Brisbane.

At Access Ortho we are trying to take this burden away from your GP and provide easy access to expert orthopaedic care for treatment of your fracture or injury.

As such, once you have started being seen by the medical team at Access Ortho, there is often no need to see your GP for ongoing care of that specific injury. We ask that if you have further issues with your fracture treatment (such as a cast or brace feeling too tight or too loose), that you contact our offices, and we will make appropriate arrangements for further review.

Please note that we will not provide scripts for analgesic medications without appointment. We will provide correspondence to your GP regarding your injury and treatment, so they are aware of your medical care.

It can be very hard to tell if your bone is broken or not. Often it may be the surrounding muscles and ligaments damaged rather than the bone itself. It is worth noting that muscle or ligament injuries also need specialist care and can sometimes take as long as bones to heal.

Common symptoms you may experience if you have a broken bone;

• Pain
• Swelling 
• Deformity – lump in the skin, finger or limb has an angle in it
• Bruising
• Tenderness to touch or weight bear on
• Inability to move a joint through its full range of movement
• Tingling or pins and needles following a fall

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms you should see a medical practitioner. Access Ortho will provide a full assessment of your injury. Even if you do not have a fracture, complications can occur from soft issue sprains and strains, so an assessment and treatment is important.

A fracture and break are the same thing.  These terms are often used interchangeably in the medical world. There are different types of fractures / breaks but do not be concerned if you are told you have a fracture vs a break.

Different types of fractures:

Greenstick fracture: is a fracture on one side of the bone. It does not go through the bone. These are very common in young children under 10 years of age. It occurs when a bone bends and breaks one side vs into 2 pieces. It is called this as it is like when you try to break a green stick from a tree. It may also be referred to as a partial fracture. It is treated with an immobilsation device such as a thermoplastic splint/brace/cast but usually for not as long..

Comminuted Fracture: A comminuted fracture refers to a bone that is broken into two or more pieces. Treatment of comminuted fractures will depend which bone is broken, any deformity caused, and the age of patient. 

Spiral fracture: Is a fracture that extends in a spiral pattern down the bone