Northern Beaches GP: What to Expect in Dee Why
Sydney’s Northern Beaches runs from Manly up to Palm Beach, and Dee Why sits roughly in the middle of it. If you have moved into the area, or you have been getting by on walk-in visits and now want a regular doctor, this is a plain guide to how general practice works here — what a GP actually handles, what it costs, what to do when the surgery is shut, and how to book.
Dee Why Medical Centre is at Shop A, 1–5 Dee Why Parade, with entry through the TerryWhite Chemmart on Pittwater Road. Six GPs work here alongside on-site allied health.
What a GP handles
Your GP is the first point of contact for almost everything that is not an emergency. The training behind that is long — around ten to fifteen years of study, hospital work and supervised practice before a doctor is a Fellow of the RACGP (Healthdirect).
Day to day, that covers:
- Diagnosing and treating illness and infection
- Managing long-term conditions such as asthma, diabetes, arthritis and heart disease
- Immunisations for children and adults, and travel vaccinations
- Health assessments and preventive screening
- Skin checks, and minor procedures like biopsies, cryotherapy and mole removal
- Mental health assessment, care plans and referrals
- Referrals to specialists, and coordinating care between them
Minor surgery is worth calling out, because people often go to an emergency department for things a GP can do in the room — a wound that needs stitches, a lesion that needs removing, an ingrown toenail. You can see the full list of services we run in Dee Why.
Why a regular GP is worth more than a convenient one
Continuity is the part that does not show up on a price list. A doctor who has seen you three times over two years notices the thing that has changed. A doctor seeing you cold does not have that baseline.
NSW Health’s Lumos program, which links general practice records to hospital data across the state, found that patients with stronger, ongoing GP engagement had fewer hospital admissions and fewer emergency department presentations (NSW Health Lumos).
MyMedicare formalises that relationship. You nominate one practice as your regular one, and in return you get access to Chronic Disease Management Plans — up to five subsidised allied health sessions a calendar year, worth up to $300 — plus longer telehealth consultations. To register you need a Medicare or DVA card and at least two face-to-face visits with the practice in the previous 24 months. You can do it in the Express Plus Medicare app, through your Medicare online account, or on a form at our reception desk.
What is available on site
The practical advantage of a larger practice is that the referral does not mean another trip. Alongside general practice, Dee Why Medical Centre has pathology collection, audiology, physiotherapy, podiatry, psychology and dietetics in the same building.
Iron infusions run in-clinic on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday — phone to book those, they are not on the online booking system. Childhood vaccinations are done with a nurse present, Monday to Friday between 9:00am and 5:00pm.
The six GPs here have different areas of interest — preventive health, women’s health, mental health, paediatrics, skin, geriatrics, men’s health. If you have a specific concern it is worth reading the doctors’ profiles before you book rather than taking the first available slot.
Mental health
Around one in five Australians aged 16 to 85 will experience a mental health condition in any twelve-month period (Healthdirect). For most people the GP is where it starts, and that is by design — a GP can assess, treat, and write a Mental Health Care Plan that unlocks Medicare-subsidised sessions with a psychologist.
If you would rather read about that first, we have a longer piece on mental health support and what a care plan involves.
Costs and Medicare
Dee Why Medical Centre is predominantly a private billing practice. Payment is due on the day, by cash, EFTPOS, credit card (excluding Diners) or HICAPS, and the Medicare rebate comes back to you.
Bulk billing may be available with some doctors for children under 16, Disability Pension holders, and DVA Gold or White card holders. Dr Pujitha De Silva bulk bills Concession Card holders and children under 16. All Saturday consultations are privately billed. Dr Trudi Ambler’s fees differ from the standard schedule — phone reception for those.
Current fees and the corresponding rebates are listed in full on the fees and appointments page, which is the page we keep updated. Telehealth attracts a Medicare rebate only if you have had at least one face-to-face consultation with the practice in the previous 12 months.
Hours, booking and getting there
We are open Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 6:30pm, and Saturday, 8:00am to 1:00pm. Closed Sunday.
Book online through HotDoc, or phone 02 9981 3111. If you are booking a flu vaccination, choose “FLU VACCINE” from the drop-down — and if you also want to discuss results or a prescription, book a separate 15-minute appointment, because the vaccination slot is not long enough for both.
Parking is at the Dee Why Council car park or on Dee Why Parade. The entrance is through the chemist on Pittwater Road, which catches people out the first time.
Patients come to us from across the immediate area — Brookvale, Narraweena, Cromer, Curl Curl, Collaroy and North Curl Curl are all within about five minutes, and Freshwater, Queenscliff, Manly Vale, Allambie Heights, Beacon Hill, Narrabeen and the Collaroy plateau within about ten. The contact page has the full list and a map.
If you need an interpreter, the Translating and Interpreting Service is 131 450 and the National Auslan service is 1300 287 526.
When we are closed
For anything urgent outside our hours, our after-hours service is 0420 960 880.
For health advice at any hour, the healthdirect helpline is 1800 022 222 and is staffed by registered nurses.
Northern Beaches Hospital at 105 Frenchs Forest Road (West), Frenchs Forest, has a 24-hour emergency department — (02) 9105 5000.
In an emergency, call 000.
Common questions
Is seeing a GP free? Not always. Some practices bulk bill, meaning Medicare covers the consultation in full. Others, including this one, bill privately and you claim a rebate back from Medicare, leaving an out-of-pocket gap. Eligibility for bulk billing varies by doctor and by patient — see our fees page.
Can a GP do surgery? Minor procedures, yes — mole removals, biopsies, cryotherapy, stitching wounds. Anything major goes to a surgeon on referral.
Do I need an appointment for a repeat prescription or a referral? Yes. Both are legal documents and both require a consultation. A referral cannot be backdated or issued without the doctor seeing you.
How do I get my test results? By appointment, face to face or by telehealth. Most results come back within three to four days and you may get an SMS once your doctor has reviewed them. Reception cannot discuss or email results without the doctor’s approval.
Where is Northern Beaches Hospital? Frenchs Forest, NSW — about ten minutes from Dee Why. It has an emergency department; it is not a general practice.