About Us
Chevron After Hours Medical Service (est 1981)

Medical Director is Dr Laurie Kelly who graduated form the University of Queensland in 1977. He worked at Gold Coast Hospital for four years and established Chevron After Hours Medical Service in December 1981. He has been involved as a GP representative with various groups including the Quality in General Practice group and is currently a member of the recently formed 'After Hours Doctors Chapter' of the RACGP. He was also responsible from 1984 till 1998 for organizing and participating in the continuous resident medical cover of Allamanda Private Hospital (a then 214 bed private hospital including ICU/CCU and 9 years as Medical Director of its 24/7 GP accident and emergency department.  He also organized resident medical cover at Palm Beach Currumbin Private Hospital (72 beds) for seven years between 1990 and 1997.

The service was initially approved by the AMA after meeting the ‘Rules of Accreditation’ guidelines and it has operated since without any interruption of service. In 1992, the service was a founding member of the National Association of Medical Deputising Services and this group undertook a process of self-accreditation that year. In 2002, the service was accredited by Australian General Practice Accreditation Limited (AGPAL) and it had a second accreditation survey in 2005. 90-95% of patients are seen in dedicated after hours clinics and the balance are domiciliary visits. The Service currently operates three after hours only clinics at 125 Nerang St Southport (opposite Gold Coast Hospital); 20-24 Palm Beach Avenue Palm Beach; 56 Wharf St Tweed Heads (near the Tweed Heads Hospital). The primary aim is to provide after hours general practitioner services nights, weekends and public holidays everyday of the year (on average 118 hours a week). 

House calls are provided between Coomera and South Tweed if there is a need and if it is logistically possible. People are visited in homes, motels, hospices, caravan parks and we attend most Aged Care Facilities (ACFs) in the region. Clinic services are directly billed to Medicare Australia if patients present a current medicare care and accounts must be settled at the time of consultation if a card is not produced. Home visits may be direct billed to Medicare in certain circumstances and patients of ACFs are direct billed to Medicare.

Local GPs who subscribe to the service receive medical notes on any treatment given to their patients by the after hours doctors. Many local GPs have their phones diverted to the after hours service or leave messages on their answering machines and surgery doors telling their patients how to contact us.

Many local general practitioners participate in the after hours doctors roster but a substantial part of the workload is undertaken by overseas trained doctors who work with us in recognised ‘area of need’ placements. These doctors who have not obtained the Fellowship of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners are supervised and assisted by more experienced GPs. Currently the service requires 15 full time equivalent doctors to satisfy current demand for services and this increases during the busier times (eg Christmas and Easter holidays) of the year.