focusfeature
beach street
Family Practice
Beach Street Family Practice was founded by Dr John Kramer in 1981. In those early days, he ran a solo practice out of 41 Beach Street. In 1985 he moved up the road to 49 Beach Street. Other doctors joined the practice for varying periods. Training of future GPs (GP Registrars) began in 1988, followed closely by medical students from a variety of universities. It has become regarded as one of the best teaching practices on the North Coast. Planning for the new surgery building began around seven years ago, with the purchase of the old house next door at 51 Beach Street. It housed medical students for several years, whilst planning for the new building proceeded. Zoning changes in the Woolgoolga Town Centre came along at just the right time, allowing for more efficient use of the site. Construction began under the direction of Coffs Harbour builder Ray Rogers, on 1st July 2015. Exactly 13 months later, on the 1st August 2016, the first patients were seen in the new practice. Three townhouses were built as part of the development, being sold upon completion to help fund the rest of the $4.2 million project. A further grant of $190,000 was successfully tendered for through the Rural and Regional Teaching Infrastructure Grants (RRTIGs) programme. This programme provides funding to upgrade and/ or extend general practices in rural or regional locations to provide additional consultation rooms and space for teaching medical students and supervising general practice registrars. Coffs Harbour Architect, Sarah Armstrong, designed the building, working closely with Kristie Peel from Two Birds Design on interior fittings. The practice occupies the whole of the first floor level, accessible via both stairs and lift. Here there are spacious reception and waiting areas, six consulting rooms, a nursing department
72 coffs coast focus.
with three separate bays and finally, a Minor Procedures Room. CLINICAL STAFF Our current medical team comprises the following doctors: A/Prof John Kramer MB BS(UNSW), FRACGP, FACRRM, OAM; Dr Judy Haines MB BS(Monash), FACRRM; Dr Janet McLachlan MSc., MBBS (Syd Uni), FRACGP; Dr Harjinder Singh MB BS, FRACGP; Dr Harriet Playle MB BS (UNSW), FRACGP; Dr Ashley Sood MB Ch B (Aberdeen), GP Registrar; Dr Orlaith Finucane Mb BCh (RCSI, Dublin), BAO, MICGP/FRACGP,FAEG, DRCOG; Dr Ashlea Broomfield MBBS (UNSW), FRACGP, DCH.
to the practice on the first floor. Use of the stairs is encouraged wherever possible. A separate lift is provided for the occupants of the townhouses above the practice. ALLIED HEALTH PRACTITIONERS Dr Stuart Mann, Clinical Psychologist; Tracey Adendorff, Psychologist; Linda Ezzy and Jacqui Heward, Dieticians; Alissa Tapper, Exercise Physiologist; Aditi Ghandi, Speech Pathologist; Kate Mackay, Speech Pathologist; Alan White, Podiatrist; Australian Hearing Bay Audio.
Coffs Harbour “ Architect, Sarah Armstrong,
designed the building, working closely with Kristie Peel from Two Birds Design on interior fittings.”
BUILDING The ground floor has staff and resident parking, pathology collection rooms (Sullivan & Nicolaides Pathology), and two consulting rooms with discrete reception and waiting area. The latter rooms are occupied by a variety of Allied Health Practitioners. A lift is available to carry patients and their relatives from the entrance at ground floor level
STAFF Some of our staff have been here for a long time. Dr Judy Haines started in 1986. Lee Hayes and Sally McCann (RN) began in 2003 and 2004, respectively. We have also developed a very strong sense of family amongst our whole staff, inspiring our name, Beach Street Family Practice. Our administrative staff have a collective experience of almost eighty years in General Practice! Patients appreciate and trust the familiar faces of Lee, Jo and Sue and welcome the youthful enthusiasm of Daniel, Amanda, Damien
and Allison. Sally leads a team of three other nurses, RN Lucy and ENs Jody, Ebony. SERVICES A very broad range of services are provided by the practice. These include maternal and child health, women’s health, immunisations, indigenous health (registered with CTG), mental health (incl. Mental Health Plans), men’s health, travel medicine, skin cancer assessment and treatment, geriatric care, palliative care, acute care, preventive care, wound management, Chronic Disease Management (GPMP/TCA), counselling, medical examinations, WorkCover and Third Party. A/Prof Kramer has a special interest in children with learning and behavioural disorders. This sometimes involves school-based case conferences and video consultations with Royal Far West Children’s Health Scheme in Sydney. Home visits are available to elderly and palliative care patients who are already attending the practice. Strict policies are in place limiting the prescription of opiates and other potentially addictive drugs to patients. Woolgoolga has long been a multicultural town, with the hard working Sikh farmers having been established for over 60 years with their families. More recently have come refugees from Africa and Asia, often seeking work on the blueberry farms. When significant communication