Dr Victor Liew

Hi Again,

I had my apt yesterday with Dr Greenslade and he seemed very nice, answered all my questions. So I am booked in a day after my PHI kicks in 4th November. ...Now the long wait begins.

Hi All,

I finally went back to my Dr and got a referral to Dr Greenslade so now just need to make an appointment with him 😊

Sorry Bonnie1971  if I gave incorrect information. I have done it for radiography and for blood tests but that may be different for other specialists.

If you want to see a particular specialist and your GP will not give you a referral, go to another GP.

However if you like the doctor you have been referred to go with that.

Would hate to see you go with a surgeon you are not happy with as you need to be able to trust them.

bonnie1971 wrote:

OMG!

I went to the Dr's today to get a referral,  she was a new Dr and when I asked her for a referral she didn't want to give me one, maybe I should just go and see a dietitian. ..after I finally agreed to this and said I would still like a referral as I can't have surgery until November anyway she didn't give me the referral to the Dr I wanted she gave me one to Dr Copp. I am so cranky! I even gave her a list of Dr's I was looking at and she didn't even look at the list! 

NOT HAPPY JAN!

Hi Bonnie. 
Just thought I would add in here that Dr C was my surgeon (8 weeks ago) and I was very happy with him, he is very experienced, easy to chat to and visited me in hospital everyday even on the weekend.
Good luck with making the right decision for you.

When I went to the GP, she gave me a referral addressed 'To The Bariatric Surgeon'. Maybe see if you can get one like that, then you can use it at a couple of different ones till you find the one that's right for you ?? Just an idea

It's all good Wendy, it was worth a try ☺ I  just wish there was only 1 or 2 Dr's so the decision isn't so hard.

Hey, oops sorry!

Whilst I know that this is something I have actually done in the past, it was quite a long time ago and it
 seems you can't do it nowadays - so my apologies for misleading!!!  I recently was able to do this with
 a radiology referral, however, when the one I was referred to was closed over the Christmas period
 and I had to take it to a different company, so I think I just got a bit confused from that.

Here's the ruling from the health department below. 

(once again, my apologies for sending you on a wild goose chase)

8.13 Can a patient see a different allied health

 professional to the one listed on their referral

 form?

If the patient’s referral form contains the name and practice location of an allied health professional
 they can see any allied health professional at that practice. However, if a patient’s referral form
 contains the name of an allied health professional, but no practice location, they must see the allied 
health professional who is specified on the form or else obtain a new referral form from their GP. If the
 GP has only specified the type of allied health professional, the patient is free to see any allied health
 professional of their choosing as long as they are registered with Medicare Australia to provide
 services.

I've never known a Doctor with any sense of ethics to accept a referral meant for another doctor...it's just not the "done" thing between peers.

I finally rang up Dr Greenslade's surgery today and I can't use the referral that I  have so I might just go with the 1st place I went to, maybe the universe is trying to tell me something lol

Thanks I will ring and find out.

AussieAires is totally right.  As long as you have a referral to the right type of specialist then it doesn't have to be the name on the letter.

I wouldn't be happy with that from my GP without a good explanation (although my GP would never treat me like that) I would be thinking of going elsewhere.

Go with your gut! (oh, lol, that doesn't sound right - no pun intended)

Bonnie, check with the doctor you want to go and see, I think you will find that it doesn't matter who the doctor referred you to, you can choose your own, they will accept the referral. As long as the referral is to a WL surgeon.

OMG!

I went to the Dr's today to get a referral,  she was a new Dr and when I asked her for a referral she didn't want to give me one, maybe I should just go and see a dietitian. ..after I finally agreed to this and said I would still like a referral as I can't have surgery until November anyway she didn't give me the referral to the Dr I wanted she gave me one to Dr Copp. I am so cranky! I even gave her a list of Dr's I was looking at and she didn't even look at the list! 

NOT HAPPY JAN!

And Dr G is still quite reasonably priced in comparison to others - in the mid-range from what I have heard.

A good choice!

Thanks Tara, 

I am happy to pay just want to have a good surgeon and feel comfortable  😊

Oh Bonnie,

You are going to love Dr Greenslade, and Brenda his Practice Manager is AMAZING!

He's done all 4 of my surgeries and I cannot say a bad thing about him.

You may wait a little longer and pay a little more than with Dr Liew but you are in safe hands with Dr G.

Cheers
Tara

Hi Wendy,

Thanks for your information, after your glowing reference I feel I might have to make an appointment with Dr Greenslade and My GP did also suggest him. I did have an appointment last Thursday with one of the other surgeon's nurse but I did not feel comfortable there, I have heard all good things about the Doctor I was going to see but I just didn't like the vibe.


The  only reason I was looking at Dr Liew is that there is no gap which is very appealing but I'm not sure about the traveling from home as I will probably be finding my ow way there and home. 

Thanks again

Bonnie

Hey Bonnie,

I'm in Brissie too and was sleeved 4 months ago by Dr Greenslade.  I haven't heard of the surgeon you are considering so I can't make a judgement on him at all (sorry), but I can say that the other 3 on your list were my top 3 (after much Google/Forum/PM messaging research!).  I decided not to go with Dr Lockie for 2 reasons which were 1) The northside location, and 2) the team approach that he has with all the extra things like dietitian, nurse practitioner, and exercise person included in his "package" (it's good for some but didn't suit me), so that left me with Dr Hatzifotis and Dr Greenslade - It was really a toss up and I was going to visit both to choose but dates worked out with Dr G and I liked him so didn't end up visiting Dr H. I know I've told this story before, lol, I hope it was for a different person :)  Anyway, it seems to me you must be on the right track if you have those surgeons on your list.  Best of luck with your decision.

Hi Tara,

Thanks for the link, I am still undecided, it's such a big decision. I am actually flipping between a few Dr's.  Dr Liew, Lockie, Greenslade or Hatzifotis. They all seem good but I just don't know who to go with, the more information I seem to get the more confused I get Lol, luckily I have until November until my health insurance kicks in.

Thanks again,

Bonnie

Hiya Bonnie,

Welcome to the forum,

You can use the search button use the top of the page to look up any questions you may have. And gosh we have so many in the beginning too.

Read all you can.

I've been around the forums for a fair while and I've only heard positive things about him.
All the best,
Tara 

But for now here's (a massive) link to all the Dr Liew threads I found.

http://www.gastricsleevesupport.com/search?search_keywords=dr+victor+liew&sid=&q=&domains=www.gastricsleevesupport.com&sitesearch=www.gastricsleevesupport.com&client=&forid=1&ie=iso-8859-1&oe=iso-8859-1&hl=en&cof=GALT%3A%235f08a6%3BGL%3A1%3BDIV%3A%23e8e8e8%3BVLC%3A%23153ddb%3BAH%3Acenter%3BBGC%3A%23ffffff%3BLBGC%3A%23e8e8e8%3BALC%3A%2300b023%3BLC%3A%235f08a6%3BT%3A%23333333%3BGFNT%3A%235f08a6%3BGIMP%3A%235f08a6%3BFORID%3A11&search_terms=any&search_author=&search_where=-1&search_time=0&show_results=topics&sort_by=0&sort_dir=DESC&google=

Hi All,

I would be interested in any feedback on Dr Liew, I have been told that he charges no gap but I am more interested in how ppl find him as a Surgeon.  I am so worried about complications that I am finding it hard to choose a Dr.

Any information will be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks! 

Bonnie