COVID-19 Safe Plan for Face to Face Appointments

Chris Mackey and Associates reserve the right to change sessions from face to face to Telehealth at short notice eg. In the event of ill health or potential viral exposure of one of our staff members or a client/direct contact of the practice.

From November 2020 we are resuming limited days of face to face consulting

Please Note: until further notice, if you have travelled through a COVID-19 ‘Red Zone’ since the 21st of December 2020, or have been instructed by the Victorian Government to self-isolate, please contact us on 5224 1222, your appointment will be changed to telehealth.

Public Health Rules

• We ask that you are 100% well when you come for your appointments face to face. If you have been unwell in the past 2 weeks or develop any symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, headaches, fatigue prior to attending the practice we will change the appointment to Telehealth.
• We ask that you do not attend in person if you have been in contact with anyone suspected to be a positive case of COVID for > 2 weeks prior to your appointment.
• We ask that you do not attend face-to-face sessions for now if you work in Melbourne

Your Hygiene

• Hands must be sanitised on arrival and again prior to paying accounts. Sanitiser is available at reception and in all consulting areas.
• You will be required to wear a mask at all times when inside the practice (bandannas are not sufficient protection, unfortunately)
• High touch areas will be disinfected regularly

Our Space

Please arrive at the time of your appointment and phone 5224 1222 from your car when you have parked (if the phone goes to message bank please leave a message). We will phone you when your psychologist is ready to start the session. The door will likely be locked when you arrive.

• We do not have the capacity for people to arrive ahead of their scheduled appointment time. Please do not bring extra family or friends not essential to the appointment.
• We can only attend to one client at a time at the reception desks and apologise for delays.
• Our reception areas have a strict limit of 2 people. You may sit in the waiting room whilst waiting to pay at reception if there are less than 2 people in the room.
• Please adhere to the 1.5 metre spacing between people.
• You may be asked to wait temporarily outside on the verandah if the waiting room is at capacity.
• If you are running late for your appointment please phone us as we have to strictly manage arrival and departure times.

Your Appointment

Chairs in the consulting rooms will be spaced  > 1.5 metres apart and your psychologist will wear a mask.

• Please bring a water bottle (for your hydration) to reduce the use of disposable cups
• Please dress in layers as it will be necessary to have a window open during sessions

If you exhibit any cold and flu symptoms during the session it will be necessary for your psychologist to ask you to finish the session via telephone from your car.

After Your Session

Payment and making appointment times at reception will have to be kept to an absolute minimum. Please attend to payments first as we can do appointments via phone if the waiting room is at full capacity.

Future of Telehealth

Until the end of March (at least) you have the option to continue sessions via Zoom or telephone. This is the preferred public health option to reduce our community’s exposure to potential risk. You may choose to alternate Telehealth with face to face sessions