Dr Atari Metcalf
BSc (Health Promotion); MD
Acute IllnessAlopecia Areata TreatmentChild Health ServicesChronic Disease Prevention & ManagementMental HealthReproductive HealthSexual HealthTravel HealthWomen’s HealthWork Health
Australia has led the world in its management of the Hepatitis C virus (HCV), with the government making direct-acting antiviral (DAA) medication available for anyone living with HCV under the pharmaceutical benefits scheme.
Depending on the genotype of Hepatitis C, it may be a combination of 2 or 3 antiviral medications.
Recently there has been a pan-genotype DAA under the PBS which is a combination of sofosbuvir/velpatasvir.
Treatment is typically for 12 weeks but may be up to 24 weeks in people who have had treatment before or are suffering from cirrhosis.
At your first appointment with one of our doctors, we’ll go through your previous medical and surgical history, and your history of Hepatitis C.
We’ll do an examination and order some blood tests including a full blood count, kidney and liver function tests, and an HCV viral load.
We also need to see if you likely have cirrhosis, and if the test results are suggestive a fibroscan test will be needed. If there is severe cirrhosis a referral to a gastroenterologist may be required.
Once these test results have returned, we can commence treatment.
The new DAA class of medicines are not only better tolerated but have a 90-95% cure rate for most people, and most people are interferon-free.
Your appointments at GSHealth are at the regular appointment rates. If you’re a new patient a long consult (30 minutes) is suggested at first, and there will be several follow-up appointments that may be shorter.
The medication itself is funded by the PBS, so it only costs $38.30 for general patients and $6.20 for concessional patients.
Important Notice: Fee Adjustment Effective July 1st
It’s Travel Season! What vaccines should I get? By Dr John-Alec Tynan
2023 Private Flu Vaccines
After a really low influenza season in 2021, and a much higher season in 2022, we’re look set to have another normal to high season in 2023, and it might be earlier than we’re used to. Usually influenza cases peak in late July to August, but they’ve peaked in May-June in the last 2 years, […]
Improving for our patients
We want to improve. Every week, Dr Daniel, Christina, Josh and Ralph sit down and we think about ways we can improve the practice. Some small things, some big things, some things we need to apply consistently and some things we need to stop. Every two weeks Dr Daniel and the clinical team meet to […]