FAQ

The Clinic

Location and Parking

Palmyra skin clinic is conveniently located south of the river about 5 mins from Fremantle. Our address is 2 Antony St, Palmyra – just off Canning Highway. We have ample free onsite parking at the front and rear of the clinic as well as free street parking.

You can also reach us by bus. There are 2 bus stops on either side of Canning Highway within an easy 2 mins walk from us. Bus routes 111, 659, 910 service those 2 bus stops.

Our experienced doctors have been working exclusively in the field of skin cancer medicine since 2012 and they have completed accredited advanced training in that field. They hold double Diplomas in Skin Cancer Medicine & Skin Cancer Surgery.

Palmyra Skin Clinic is a private fee paying clinic and payment is required on the day of service. We are mindful to keep our professional fees fair and reasonable. They reflect our team’s expertise, time, commitment and equipment levels necessary to provide you with the best medical care.

If you hold a valid Medicare card, a rebate will be paid into your nominated bank account – typically within 24-48 hours. Any skin biopsies or treatments will incur further cost – this vary depending on the number, type, size and location of the skin lesions and the level of complexity required for wound repair. All fees will be disclosed to you for your consideration and consent prior to any proposed treatment.

Yes. Our clinic will send you an automated SMS reminder message asking you to confirm your appointment 7 days before your booked appointment. It is very important that you confirm your appointment. If we do not receive a confirmation from you at least 48 hours prior to your appointment, it will be cancelled and offered to another patient on our waiting list.

We understand that urgent matters can arise and late cancellation are sometimes inevitable. We do ask that you contact us as early as possible if you are unable to attend and need to cancel/reschedule your appointment.

A fee of $90 will be charged in the event of a late cancellation of less than 24 hours or if you fail to attend your scheduled appointment; except for unavoidable circumstances. Please inform us as early as possible if you’re unable to attend to avoid such fees and so we can offer your appointment to someone else on our waitlist.

We understand that new skin lesions can pop up or existing ones can change quite quickly at any time. If you are quite concerned and are unable to book an appointment online –  please speak to our medical receptionist so that we can help you. Generally we will endeavour to fit you in as soon as possible – usually within a few days.

The Visit

Do I need a referral from my GP for a skin check?

A referral from your GP is not required. However it would be useful to have if you have a complex medical history or are on multiple medications. If your GP has already done a biopsy, we ask that you please bring a copy of the result. It also helps us to write back to your GP with an update following a diagnosis and treatment of skin cancer.

To get most out of your skin check and to make the process efficient, we recommended that you:

  • Avoid wearing tinted products or make up to skin check appointment, as they can conceal skin lesions. If possible please remove your nail varnish to allow examination of nails
  • Bring relevant information such as previous biopsy result, list of medications you are currently taking or a letter from your GP (if you have one)
  • Know if you have a family history of skin cancers, especially melanoma by asking family members
  • Examine your skin around genital and breast area for skin lesions the day before as we do not routinely examine those areas unless there is a lesion you are concerned or you would like us to check
  • Dress in clothes that is easy to remove and put back on

At Palmyra Skin Clinic we book 30 mins appointment for a full body skin check. This allows us enough time to do a proper thorough check. This includes history taking and examination of the whole body skin from head to toe. Identified concerning lesion may be biopsied at the same visit if time allows, otherwise a separate appointment will be organised in a timely manner.

You can make a ‘spot check’ appointment if you only have 1-3 skin lesions to be checked. This is a 15 min appointment and can be useful if a concerning lesion arises in between your regular full skin check appointments. If required, a biopsy may be performed during this appointment- this will depend on the type of skin lesion and if time allows. Our aim is to always do the right procedure / treatment in a timely and safe manner for you.

We understand unexpected things happen in life, so please call us if you anticipate that you will be late for your appointment as this will impact on the patient appointments after yours. Depending on the time constraint the doctor may see the patient after your appointment first or we will try to reschedule your appointment to another time so that other patients are not kept waiting.

We will always try our best to be on time and appreciate your patience if we are running behind schedule. Unfortunately, this is sometimes inevitable and may arise due to factors beyond our control e.g this can be due to the late arrival of the patients before you or extended time required during surgery. We understand your time is valuable, therefore we will always try our best to let you know in advance if our doctors are running behind.

The Procedure

Are procedure performed on site or will I need to be referred to elsewhere?

Our clinic has a large dedicated theatre room and our team can treat most skin cancers on site. On rare occasions, your skin cancer may prove be too complex and require other specialist input. In this case you may need to be referred to a specialist such as a Moh’s surgeon, a plastic surgeon, or an oncologist.

As much as possible, we will try to do your biopsy/procedure on the same day as your skin check. However, this will depend on the nature of the lesion, location, size and the type of procedure required as extra time may be required. If it is not possible to be done on the same day as your skin check we will organise a separate appointment for you.

This will depend on the nature of the procedure (location, type of skin cancer, complexity of wound repairs) and time required. Rest assured that we will inform you of the fees, your applicable Medicare rebate and the associated out of pocket expense before we book for procedure.

In most cases no, as all procedure is done in our clinic (outpatient) rather than in a hospital setting (inpatient). Some private health insurance may cover partially the cost associated with photodynamic therapy. This will depend on your level of cover. You will need to enquire directly with your insurer.

We understand not everyone can afford treatment privately. We can refer you to the public hospital system for you to have treatment. The referral will be triaged pending on urgency and location of hospital will be decided based on residential intake areas. You will usually need to be seen first in the hospital clinic for a consultation before you can be booked in for the required procedure. The waiting time will be based on the hospital’s waiting list and terms & conditions.

Yes, you will be able to drive in most of cases. Your treating doctor will advise you prior to the procedure if that is not the case.

Once we receive your pathology result, we will call you to advise you of the result by phone. Importantly, you will be made aware of your result irrespective of the outcome. In the unlikely event that you do not hear from us after 10 days, we strongly advise that you call us so we can look into this for you.

Thank you for your enquiry

We will be in contact with you as soon as possible.