General Services
What services do you offer?
Our nurses have a range of clinical nursing skills and years of experience, particularly in community nursing. Many of our team are emergency department trained, and some also have specific specialities in areas such as palliative and end of life care, wound care, continence and catheter care, diabetes care and respiratory care.
You can read more of (some of our) skills and experience on our services page here.
Please contact us to see how we can tend to your clinical nursing needs.
Who provides the care?
All of our clinical team are experienced AHPRA registered division one nurses (not enrolled nurses).
Do you have male and female nurses?
Yes, we have both male and female registered nurses.
Do your nurses speak any languages other than English?
We actually have several registered nurses who also speak Italian.
Do I need to have dressings and everything the nurse will need?
Our nurses will generally have basic clinical supplies on hand.
Do you offer a locum service?
No, we don’t offer a locum service.
Booking and Availability
How do I book your services?
Simply complete our new client referral form and we can take it from there.
We accept self-referrals, and also referrals from family and friends, GPs, hospitals, HCP package providers, NDIS support coordinators and all other healthcare organisations.
You can also nominate Wattletree Health Group as your preferred provider of your Home Care Package (HCP) or NDIS clinical care needs.
Are your services available 24/7?
Yes, our nurses are available 24/7.
Do you have an emergency service?
Yes, we have an emergency callout service for our existing clients where we try to be client-facing withing 2 hours (from approval).
This service is particularly appropriate for catheter related emergencies.
How quickly can I get a nurse to visit?
All services are delivered subject to capacity, but we try to be very responsive to client need. Most general clinical nursing services can be seen next day (or sooner).
Service costs
Are services covered by Medicare?
Wattletree Health Group is a private, “fee for service” in home nursing service. Service costs are not covered or rebatable through Medicare.
How can I pay for services?
While we are a private, “fee for service” in-home nursing service, we offer options for payment of services.
In addition to private invoicing, subject to approval we can invoice:
- Home care package (HCP) providers
- NDIS plan managers
- NDIA directly
- TAC
- WorkCover
- etc
Do I need to pay on the day of service delivery?
No, we invoice weekly.
How much is a nurse home visit?
Our rates are based on current NDIS rates for clinical nurses.
What is your minimum visit length?
Our minimum billable visit is 1.5 hours, inclusive of client interface/documentation/basic travel (to incorporate supplies ordering, RN report writing, Clinical Liaison, GP phone calls, clinical handovers etc).
Can you invoice my aged care home care package?
Yes, we can!
We have existing relationships with many my aged care home care package providers and can invoice them directly for our nurse visits.
Even if we don’t currently have a relationship with your package provider, we can liaise with them to become your provider of clinical nursing services.
I'm on the NDIS, can your nurses visit me?
Yes, we can!
We are registered NDIS providers and have experienced nurses to tend to your clinical nursing needs.
Which NDIS service rate is applicable?
Our registered nurses will be invoiced as “Clinical Nurse” or “Clinical Nurse Consultant”, as appropriate.
We can invoice to either “Core” or “Capacity Building” (CB).
Are there additional fees for after-hours or weekend care?
Yes, in accordance with the nurses award and NDIS, rates are higher for evenings, nights, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
Do your costs include all clinical supplies?
No, our service costs do not include all supplies. These are separately itemised on our invoices.
Geographical Coverage and Service Area
What areas do you serve?
Based in north-east Melbourne, we primarily operate in these municipal areas:
- Banyule
- Bayside
- Boroondara
- Casey
- Darebin
- Frankston
- Glen Eira
- Greater Dandenong
- Hume
- Kingston
- Knox
- Manningham
- Maroondah
- Melbourne
- Merri-Bek / Moreland
- Monash
- Nillumbik
- Port Phillip
- Stonnington
- Whitehorse
- Whittlesea
- Yarra
- Yarra Ranges
Your area not on the list? This is simply our primary area, but we can service other areas, subject to capacity. Please contact us for more information.
Can you travel outside your main service area?
Subject to capacity, yes, we can (and do) travel outside our primary service area.
Please contact us for more information and to see if we can help.
Care Customisation
Can I request a specific nurse?
We try to minimise the size of the care team for each client so as to ensure care is not compromised in the event of individual staff unavailability (or leave).
That said, while we aim for continuity of care, we cant always guarantee the same nurse with each visit.
Are care plans personalised to my needs?
Absolutely! We are wholly flexible to provide care to meet your needs.
What happens if my needs change over time?
We can easily adapt and change the care we provide to match your evolving care needs.
Legal and compliance
What background checks are done with your staff?
All of our clinical team have:
- current AHPRA registrations,
- police checks,
- working with children checks (WWCC), and
- NDIS worker screening checks.
Are your staff employees or contractors?
All of our staff are employees!
Are you a nursing agency?
We are not a nursing agency.
End Of Life Care
What is End Of Life care?
End of life care focuses on providing comfort, managing symptoms, and supporting patients and their families during the final stages of life.
How is home based end-of-life care different from hospice care?
Home based End Of Life care allows patients to remain in familiar surroundings with tailored support, whereas hospice care is often facility-based.
What if we have a palliative care service involved?
Many palliative care services are largely consultative and “hands-off”. Wattletree Health Group can step in to provide the “hands on” clinical care by experienced registered nurses in the home and liaise with palliative care services and specialists as required.
General
What is the difference between a registered nurse and an enrolled nurse?
Registered nurses (RN) have greater responsibilities in the workplace than enrolled nurses (EN) due to the difference in formal education and AHPRA Standards for practice. The main differences between an EN and a RN are their education level and scope of practice:
- Education – ENs complete a diploma-level qualification, while RNs complete a bachelor’s degree or higher.
- Scope of practice – ENs perform basic care tasks, while RNs perform a wider range of nursing duties, including advanced patient assessments and management, medication administration, etc.
- Authority – Due to their level of skill and education, registered nurses can communicate any problems to doctors and specialists.
- Decision-making responsibilities – A registered nurse can make decisions about a patient’s level and type of care and can implement their assessments into a care or treatment plan.
Contact
What's the best way to contact Wattletree Health Group?
You can contact us:
- by phone: 03 9140 0944
- by email: contact@WattletreeHealthGroup.com.au
- by contact form.
