When two doctors moved to Australia and decided to open their own practice, they turned to Andrea Ravas at mp practice solutions to help them with everything – from the regulatory nuts and bolts to the finishing touches.

General practitioners Dr Manmeet Sekhon and Dr Megh Goswami fell in love with the Australian lifestyle and people while on a family visit in 2007, and the London-based family made Australia their new home last year, after the birth of their second child.

The doctors contacted mp practice solutions for advice and assistance to set up their new clinic, to be named after Uxbridge in London because of its special significance as the birthplace of their children, and because the name reflects the personalised service they wish to provide.

The family’s vision was to provide high quality, comprehensive and continuing care with an emphasis on increasing patient participation in health care. “Health literacy enables patients to make positive choices for their own health,” Dr Sekhon says.

mp practice solutions took over from this point, starting by assessing two locations the doctors had suggested would be suitable for their practice. One was a residential property, the other an empty shop located at McCrae plaza. mp practice solutions Practice Services Manager Andrea Ravas viewed the site at McCrae, which was close to important amenities that would assist a private practice, including a pharmacy and dentist and ample parking within close proximity.

Ms Ravas provided practical advice about the physical set up of the practice – from the waiting room to consulting suites, treatment room and nurses station. She also mapped out operational and compliance requirements including the need for auditory privacy.

“We developed so much trust in Ms Ravas that we left the entire project management in her supervision while we were away overseas,” Dr Goswami says. “It gives us great pleasure to see that she effectively multi-tasked to ensure that the project was completed in a timely manner and we walked back into a functional practice.”

Among the tasks mp practice solutions undertook to get the practice up and running were:

• Assessing that the waiting room was of sufficient capacity to accommodate patients and others and met occupational health and safety requirements.
• Ensuring infection control requirements, patient amenities and staff and doctor working requirements were met.
• Designing the reception area and ensuring that other private areas could not be accessed by the general public for health and safety reasons.
• Making sure that the physical setup of the reception area was secure and ensured confidentiality.

mp practice solutions managed the development and stages of operations which included:

• Applying with council for building permits.
• Providing quotations per contractor on set up of practice.
• Managing and monitoring all building requirements, IT set up, medical     equipment and consumables, telephone systems, alarm security and signage. 

“This took the pressure and time away from the clients, enabling them to go on a family holiday for three weeks while renovations were underway,” Ms Ravas says. “The renovations started the second week in December and were finalised by Friday 8 January – one week prior to the deadline.”

“Ms Ravas was very approachable right from the start and helped us shape our vision into reality with her expertise and excellent powers of negotiation,” says Dr Sekhon. “She has always been willing to offer her assistance with both clinical and non-clinical issues and is a highly skilled professional while still maintaining a friendly, personal touch.”

“Setting up a practice is a highly challenging venture and without the right direction it can be extremely daunting. It was reassuring to know that we had a trusted colleague who could guide us with every step.”

The official opening of Uxbridge Family Medical Centre was held on Monday 11 January with Minister Greg Hunt and Martin Dixon.