Frequently Asked Questions

Although your initial appointment will be approximately 60 to 75 mins long it can actually be quite a short period of time to explore everything that may be important to understanding your concerns. By completing the questionnaire it will allow you and Dr Henderson to use the appointment time to its greatest value, while still allowing Dr Henderson to understand any additional information that cannot be covered in the first appointment. It also allows you to tell your story in your own words, thereby minimising the chance of any misunderstandings.

Although what you write is important to allow Dr Henderson to do any necessary preparation work he will also review all the pertinent information with you in your discussion to ensure he has as full an understanding as possible of your concerns before coming to any opinions about the challenges you face and how they may best be treated.

You will initially be greeted by one of the Mackay Private Hospital receptionists and asked to wait in the waiting room until the start of the appointment. Dr Henderson will spend approximately 60 minutes exploring your concerns with you. By the end of the discussion Dr Henderson will have come to an initial understanding of the concerns you have and how they may best be treated. He will check his understanding of your concerns with you and explain the treatment options that could be helpful to you. If you choose to be prescribed a medication Dr Henderson will provide you with a prescription before the appointment finishes. He will also discuss plans for follow up appointments with you. If you are booking another appointment it will be booked straight away with one of our receptionists and they will also process your payment.

One of our receptionists will call text, or email (whichever you prefer) the link to the telehealth platform approximately 15 mins before your appointment. You just have to click on the link, you don’t need to download any special software to the device you will be connecting on, it is all done via a secure internet site. When you click on the link you will taken to a ‘virtual’ waiting room until Dr Henderson starts the appointment. If you need a prescription Dr Henderson will usually be able to send one directly to your phone. If he can’t he will ask you to nominate a pharmacy and immediately email it to them. After the appointment has finished one of our receptionists will call you to take payment and arrange another appointment time if required.

Yes, anyone can request a telehealth appointment if that is their preference.

It can be if that is your strong preference, or you have no ability to attend a face to face appointment or have no devices that the telehealth system would work with, however, please bear in mind that conducting a first appointment by phone would generally be considered the least helpful way to start building a therapeutic relationship.

If Dr Henderson has information to share with you he will invite you to create an account with a website called Quenza. Creating an account is free and only takes a minute. The information he shares can be found in the ‘files’ section. Dr Henderson will also share the letter he writes to your GP with you. This letter will also be forwarded onto any other professionals you have requested it be shared with..

One of the reasons Dr Henderson shares your GP letter with you is to ensure that you can check if his understanding of your concerns is accurate. If there are any misunderstandings, or mistakes, please let him know at your next appointment and he will gladly correct them.

No, we are not a bulk billing clinic.

‘291’ refers to the Medicare code for a specific type of initial psychiatry appointment. It is a one-off assessment followed up by a detailed report to your GP giving advice on how they may be able to manage your mental health concerns over the next 12 months. Dr Henderson does not provide 291 assessments as he prefers to provide expert follow up to ensure any suggested treatment options are effective and, if not, to be able to proactively adjust your treatment plan.

Yes

Yes

Please call us on 07 4863 0603. Giving us as much notice as possible would be greatly appreciated. We completely understand urgent matters do occasionally arise and in these instances same day cancellations are unavoidable and we are happy to reschedule. However, if cancellations at short notice occur several times, this may result in no further appointments being offered as Dr Henderson sees many people and this severally disadvantages others that could have been seen earlier.