Health content editorial and medical review policy
Perth Home GP publishes health information for patients and families across Perth, Rockingham and Mandurah. This policy explains how we write that information, who checks it, what we base it on, how often we review it, and what to do if you think we have got something wrong.
Why we publish health information
Most people looking for health information online are trying to answer a practical question. Is this serious? Can it wait until morning? Who should I call?
We publish health information to help you answer those questions. It is meant to help you understand a condition, recognise when it needs attention, and know what to expect from a GP.
It is general information. It cannot take account of your history, your medicines or your circumstances, and it is not a substitute for a consultation.
What this policy covers
This policy applies to the clinical health information on perthhomegp.com.au. That includes our health guides, our service pages and our suburb pages, wherever they explain a condition, a symptom or a decision about care.
It does not cover our general marketing copy, our fees, patient reviews, or our legal pages such as the privacy policy. Those are governed separately.
Our editorial principles
We aim for our clinical information to be:
- accurate, and checked against a named source
- current, and reviewed on a schedule
- relevant to how healthcare actually works in Australia
- balanced about what is known and what is not
- clear enough to be understood on a phone, at night, by someone who is worried
- useful even to a reader who never becomes our patient
Who writes and reviews our health information
Writing. Our health information is prepared by Perth Home GP practitioners and by writers with experience in Australian healthcare, working to clinical briefs. Where a page names a writer, that is the person who wrote it. Where a page names no writer, Perth Home GP is the publisher and the reviewing practitioner is accountable for the clinical content.
Medical review. Clinical health information on this website is reviewed by Dr Mike Patton, GP and Clinical Director of Perth Home GP. Dr Patton holds MBBS and FRACGP, has worked in home based general practice since 2013, and founded Perth Home GP in 2020.
He reviews clinical content for medical accuracy, relevance, balance, and consistency with Australian healthcare guidance. He also confirms that a page is clinically current before its review date is published.
You can check Dr Patton’s registration yourself on the AHPRA public register. He is registered as Michael Patton.
How we use artificial intelligence and digital tools
We do not use artificial intelligence to generate clinical guidance, medicine doses, treatment pathways, or recommendations about your care. Every clinical statement on this website comes from a source we can name or from the practitioner who reviews the page.
Digital tools, including AI, may help us with structure, formatting, plain English editing and administrative work. A tool is never the reviewer. Dr Patton is accountable for the clinical information we publish, and the review date on a page is his.
The evidence we rely on
We work from Australian sources wherever they exist, because eligibility, medicines and referral pathways all differ by country. Where we can, we go to the organisation that produced the information rather than a website summarising it.
The kinds of sources we use:
- Australian government health authorities and health services
- clinical guidance published openly by Australian medical colleges and professional bodies
- peer reviewed research and systematic reviews
- international sources, where there is no suitable Australian equivalent
We weigh how good the evidence is, how current it is, and whether it applies in Australia. We do not count references.
Where a page makes a specific clinical statement, we name the source on that page, so you can read the original guidance yourself rather than taking our word for it.
Accuracy, balance and uncertainty
Medicine is often less settled than health websites make it sound. Where that is true, we say so.
We aim to:
- separate established guidance from evidence that is still emerging
- describe benefits without overstating them
- name the risks and limitations that matter
- mention reasonable alternatives, including ones we do not provide
- avoid presenting an unsettled question as though it were decided
Editorial independence and our commercial interests
Perth Home GP is a mobile GP practice. We are paid for the care we describe, so we have a commercial interest in the subjects we write about. Pretending otherwise would not be honest, so here is how we manage it.
- Our clinical information reflects Australian general practice standards, not our preferences as a business.
- Where a different kind of care is the right one, we say so. That includes care we do not provide, such as an emergency department, an urgent care clinic, or a referral to a specialist.
- The fact that we offer a service does not decide what our health information says about it.
- We do not accept payment to place third party content on our clinical pages.
One test we hold ourselves to: our health information should still be useful to you if you never become a Perth Home GP patient.
How often we review our health information
| What | How often we review it |
|---|---|
| Clinical health guides | At least every 12 months |
| Service pages | At least every 12 months |
| Suburb pages | At least every 12 months |
| Fees and Medicare information | Whenever the relevant Medicare items change, and at least every 12 months |
We review a page sooner than this whenever clinical guidance, safety information or regulations change in a way that affects it.
What the date means. The "last clinically reviewed" date on a page is the date Dr Patton last confirmed that the page is clinically current. It is not the date we last edited the wording, and we do not refresh it without a real review.
Telling us about a mistake
If something on this website looks wrong, unclear or out of date, please tell us. Email [email protected].
Here is what happens next:
- We read your message and check the page against its source and current Australian guidance.
- We treat anything that could affect a patient’s safety as a priority.
- Where a page needs to change, we change it and update the review date.
- We write back and tell you what changed.
If you think a page could cause immediate harm, please put "urgent clinical safety" in the subject line so it reaches us faster.
Australian advertising and professional requirements
Perth Home GP advertises a regulated health service, so our content is subject to the advertising requirements in the National Law and to the advertising guidelines of the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA). We write our content with those requirements in mind, which means:
- we do not guarantee outcomes
- we do not use superlatives such as "best" or "leading"
- we do not make comparisons with other providers that we cannot substantiate
- we use careful language where clinical judgement is involved, such as "your GP will assess"
- we do not promote brand name medicines
What this information is, and what it is not
The health information on this website is general and educational. It is not personal medical advice, and it cannot replace a consultation with a GP who knows your history.
If you are worried about your health, speak to a doctor. To book a GP home visit or telehealth consultation, call 1300 815 321.
In a medical emergency, call Triple Zero (000) immediately.