Patient Information

At your first appointment with Dr Williams, you should bring the following with you:

• Referral letter from your GP
• Medicare card
• DVA Card/Pension Card
• Your private health insurance information
• Current listing of your Medications

During your first visit to North Coast Vascular Dr Williams will review your information with you. He will ask you about your symptoms and medications, as well as your medical history.

He may conduct a physical examination with you or send you for additional tests prior to confirming or adjusting the diagnosis.  This may involve ultrasound, CT, X-Ray or MRI.

He will then explain what treatment or procedures he recommends, and what they involve. Finally, he will discuss with you the risks and benefits of the procedure and recommended recovery processes to help you heal smoothly and comfortably.

Dr Williams encourages you to ask questions and clarify information with him throughout your appointment.  In most cases, you will be given additional information sheets to take home, which explain your condition and any recommended treatment in more depth.

Procedure information for patients can be found here.

Angio simulation video

Carotid Endarectomy and Patch

EVAR for AAA

Care of your wound at home

Post Angio Instructions

Post Op Varicose Veins Surgery

How to apply a Comprilan Compression Bandage

Ovarian Vein Coiling

Please complete our Patient Medication Summary form

You will be notified of consultation fees in the letter confirming your appointment, or you can ask for our fee schedule when you call the clinic for an appointment.

Payment is required on the day of appointment, and EFTPOS facilities are available. We accept cash, cheque, debit cards or most credit cards. Diners card and American Express cards are not accepted.

We can either process your Medicare claim for you on the spot, if our administration staff process the claim, it will take Medicare about 24 hours to reimburse you.  We can issue you a receipt that you can take to your nearest Medicare office.

North Coast Vascular participates in the Known Gap system with Private Health Funds.  Please speak to our Administration staff regarding this system.

If surgical/medical intervention is required you are given the options of Ballina District Hospital, Lismore Base Hospital and St Vincent’s Hospital.  Public procedures are performed at Lismore Base Hospital and varicose vein procedures performed at Ballina District Hospital.

If you have Private Health Insurance, St Vincent’s Hospital is available to you.

Our practice adheres to strict confidentiality requirements. We treat your information with the utmost respect, and will not release any information on your medical file without your consent.

Family, friends or support people are welcome to accompany you to appointments if you require, but they cannot access your medical information without your consent.

If you have any paperwork pertaining to Power of Attorney or Enduring Power of Attorney please bring a copy of this to your appointment so we can document this.

We appreciate that your time is important and we endeavour to run on time.  Because of the nature of surgical practice, Dr Williams may occasionally need to cancel sessions and rearrange appointments.

Please understand that these changes are unavoidable and we will work with you to find a new appointment time as soon as possible.

If you need to cancel or change an appointment time, please contact the clinic on (02) 6621 2200 during business hours. We would appreciate a minimum of 24 hours’ notice, so that we can offer your appointment time to another patient on our waiting list.