November 09, 2010
Dear Doctor,
I am writing to you regarding the recent changes to the Department of Gastroenterology at Ballarat Health Services.
As you will be aware, Dr. Ian Hamilton retired from the Department on October 29, and you would have received a
letter to this effect in early September, from Mr. Philip Reasbeck, Acting Executive Director of Medical Services.
We wish Ian well in his retirement.
In addition, we are advised that Dr. Grant Phelps will be taking leave of absence from Ballarat Health Services for 6
months from February 2011.
As a result, there are a number of major changes to the service which can be offered.
Inserted is an item from Mr. Philip Reasbeck, Acting Executive Director of Medical Services from his October
Newsletter, explaining some of the arrangements which have been made so far:-
SENIOR MEDICAL STAFF
Gastroenterology
Dr Ian Hamilton, retired at the end of October. On behalf of BHS I would like to thank him
once again for his major contribution to the organisation over the years and to wish him well for
the future.
Recruitment of Gastroenterologists continues and telephone interviews with three applicants will
be held over the next fortnight.
Dr Daljean Sandhu, Consultant Gastroenterologist at the Western Hospital, commences at BHS as
a locum gastroenterologist at the beginning of November and will provide gastroenterology
services on Tuesdays.
Dr Grant Phelps will continue to provide consultative services, mainly in hepatology; the general
medical and surgical units will process new gastroenterology referrals as appropriate, but those
which cannot be managed by these units will need to be referred to other metropolitan or regional
service providers.
It is clear from the above that the level of service that can be offered at present is now severely limited.
There are several important points to note:
· the Gastroenterology Outpatients has been closed until further notice.
· because of MBS requirements, referrals directed to Ian Hamilton by name at the Private Consulting
Suites can no longer be accepted, and must be returned.
· if you have inadvertently made a referral to Ian, you will be contacted and asked to address the referral
to another Practitioner.
· demands on the Private Clinic will be very high and may not be able to be met. Referral to an alternative
service (e.g. Metropolitan or Regional) may need to be considered.
· new referrals for Gastroscopy and/or Colonoscopy will be triaged by the Medical and Surgical Units as appropriate but as stated above, those which cannot be managed by them will need to be referred
further afield.
We appreciate that these changes will lead to some major changes to your referral patterns for the time being but
wish to assure you that BHS is endeavouring to find replacement Practitioners to enable a Gastroenterology Service
to resume,
Yours Sincerely,
Dr. Malcolm Anderson,
Dr Malcolm Anderson Ms Jannine Rigby
GP Liaison Consultant GP Liaison Manager
Drummond Street, North Drummond Street, North
PO Box 577 PO Box 577
Ballarat 3353 Ballarat 3353
Tel: 03 5320 6677 Tel: 03 5320 6676
Email: Email: