Frequently Asked Questions

Information current as of March 2023

Q) I would like cosmetic treatments. What can you do?

A) Our cosmetics nurses, dermal clinicians and our dermatologists are able to perform cosmetic injectables (filler and anti-wrinkle), laser and all cosmetic treatments including facials, chemical peels, Ultraformer (HIFU), Dermpen (skin needling) treatments and Dermaplaning. For bookings please call 9039 5644. We are open every 2nd Wednesday until late 7.00pm for some cosmetic treatments for your convenience. 

We have our full range of Medical Grade skin care ranges including O-Cosmedics, Dermapen skin care range, Rationale (DOCTOR CODE is 13750-RA10) , O-Cosmedics 1SKIN Treatment Foundation and Tinted Luminising Drops, QV/Ego brands and La Roche Posay which our staff are happy to help you select. Our cosmetics team are happy to help you on the phone to choose the right products for your skin or book in a redeemable consult with our dermal clinician for in in depth skin assessment.  Just call us on (03) 9039 5644 for advice or book online. 

Full range Rationale skin care available in clinic

The ever-popular DP Dermaceuticals – Hyla Active + 3D masks – available in clinic now!

Information current as of March 2023

Q) Is the clinic open?

A) Yes! The clinic has remained open throughout the entire pandemic time period for your convenience – Monday to Friday.  Our phones are open 9.00am – 5.00pm. Our email address reception@hopedermatology.com.au is being attended to regularly but please allow up to at least 5 working days for us to reply to you. Our full team of expert dermatologists are available for  face-to-face consults and bookings can be made 24/7 at  your convenience via Hotdoc online appointments.

Our Cosmetics Nurses, Dermal Clinician and Dermatologists continue offer cosmetic injectables, laser and all cosmetic treatments to our valued patients. These cosmetic treatments include all facials, chemical peels, Ultraformer (HIFU), Dermapen (skin needling) treatments and Dermaplaning. For these cosmetic appointments, please call the clinic on 9039 5644 or book online. We are open every Wednesday night until 7.00pm. 

Q) Is the UVB body booth and hand & foot cabinet still available?

A) Yes, we recognise that in periods of stress and weather changes, skin conditions like psoriasis, eczema, vitiligo and hives may flare. Hence we are keeping out UVB machines running. UVB is available for use during normal hours  Monday to Friday   8:30am – 4.30 pm with strict sanitation between patients is being implemented. With a valid Medicare card, each UVB machine treatment is Medicare bulk billed and hence there is no out-of-pocket cost to you for using our machines.

Q) Are you still offering TeleHealth consultations as of March 2023?

Very rarely these days!  A face to face consultation is preferred to maintain our high standard of patient care. 

Q) How will my face-to-face consultation be booked?
A) When you call us on (03) 9039 5644 our admin staff will book you for a face-to-face consultation with one of our expert dermatologists (male and female available). Online bookings can also be made 24 – 7 via HotDOC. We are ensuring the room(s) are cleaned thoroughly between patients , our doctors are in their PPE (personal protective equipment) and we are ensuring patient contact in our wait rooms is minimised.  

• If you have any of the following symptoms on the day of your appointment, we ask that you ring our clinic on 9039 5644 and reschedule your appointment to a later date. The symptoms would include – fever, cough, wheeze, trouble breathing, runny nose, headache, loss of taste/smell;
• If you have had any contact with COVID19 positive cases, please do not attend your appointment at this time.

Our staff will also ask you to email your referral through to reception@hopedermatology.com.au prior to your appointment.  This is to avoid any paperwork having to be completed at front desk.

Most of the time, your referring doctor has already given us the referral electronically.

It is the patients responsibility to ensure a referral is valid and submitted to us. If we do not have a valid referral, then unfortunately we cannot claim the relevant rebate for you from Medicare. 

We will ask that only you attend the consult and do not bring any family members or any other persons unless absolutely needed.

Q) What can I expect as a patient when I arrive at Hope Dermatology for a face-to-face consultation?
A) We ask that you arrive for your appointment as close to the allocated time as possible. If you arrive too early it may mean that there are too many people in our waiting room area and you may be asked to wait outside for a short period of time until your appointment.  When you come into the clinic we will ask you to immediately sanitise you hands at the reception desk with our HAND SANITISER. Then you can proceed to the wait room where you will wait for the dermatologist who will call you into the consulting room.

Q) How will the doctor manage my face-to-face consultation in this Covid19 situation?
A) Your doctor will be dressed in a particular way for face-to-face consults and this may include –

• surgical scrubs
• long sleeve surgical gown
• surgical mask
• glasses
• goggles over glasses
• clear face shield
• gloves

This is to ensure everyone’s safety. Please be assured that all doctors are giving you a reassuring smile behind that mask!

The consult room will have been cleaned before you enter by the doctor themselves. The patient chair will be moved away from the doctors desk to adhere to social distance. History taking and examination and scripts etc will proceed as normal. If there needs to be any biopsies or surgery this will proceed as normal. If the proposed surgical procedure is deemed too risk for our dermatologists, then we are able to refer to our trusted lists of Mohs surgeons/plastic surgeons who are more than happy to take care of you. The room will be cleaned after you leave and our doctors will perform dictation to let your doctors know of your attendance. There may be a delay in non-urgent/routine correspondence back to your GP; thanks for your kind understanding with this.

Your doctor may have given you scripts/bloods. We would advise you to try and collect scripts and do bloods at time when there are LESS people at the pharmacy/blood collection centre and try your very best to adhere to social distance when you attend these places; for your own safety. Some pharmacies are offering a mail out service of medications and this could be a good option for you. Please perform due diligence.

Q) I have had bloods done. Now what?
A) Your doctor may arrange for a Telehealth consultation or a face-to-face consults after the bloods are back to discuss results with you. At the time of paying for your face to face consultation the reception staff may ask you to sign a consent form for the dermatologist to conduct a telehealth consultation with you. This consent form will be scanned into your history.

Q) I have had a biopsy/surgery. Now what?
A) Results will be given on the day of removal of sutures. Should you wish for earlier results notification, then we can arrange a over the phone consultation if applicable for your results. Please note this is not always suitable. The nurse will advise if a phone call can be made or whether you need to come back and have a consultation with the dermatologist.

Q) If I just need a script do I need an appointment?   
A) It most cases you will be required to have an appointment with one of our dermatologists. Sometimes there can be an exception to this rule but our admin staff can guide you on the phone to which consult is more appropriate for you.

Q) What happens after the face-to-face consult?
A) Please proceed down to reception as normal. Payment will be processed by card only please for infection control purposes. (Cash accepted in certain situations only). We will process your relevant Medicare rebate/paperwork. We will then discuss with you about next appointments etc. You are welcome to sanitise your hands again before leaving the clinic.

Q) If I have more questions after the consult, what can I do?
A) Yes we understand that you may remember questions/concerns after the consult. We are happy for a Telehealth consultation to be used this way to answer any further questions. Please be aware however that we first need your written consent for one of our dermatologists to have a telehealth consultation with you.  This consent can simply be given by you emailing reception@hopedermatology.com.au and giving your consent.

Q) I would like cosmetic treatments. What can you do?
  Our cosmetics nurse and dermatologists are now available for Cosmetic injectables and Laser and a limited number of other cosmetic treatments. For appointments, please call 9039 5644. 

A reminder also about our full range of Medical Grade skin care ranges including O-Cosmedics, Dermapen skin care range, Rationale (DOCTOR CODE is 13750-RA10) , O-Cosmedics 1SKIN Treatment Foundation and Tinted Luminising Drops, QV/Ego brands and La Roche Posay which our staff are happy to help you select. Take home skin peel packs and sunscreen and non-comedogenic skin care all available. Our cosmetics team are happy to help you on the phone to choose the right products for your skin! Just call us on (03) 9039 5644 for advice.

FREQUENT QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FOR TELEHEALTH CO-VID 19  – (current as of  Monday 18th July 2022)

Q) Why are you not doing so many Telehealth consultations any more.
A) You have to have been seen in clinic for a face to face consultation prior to being able to have a telehealth appointment with one of our dermatologists. It is far better for any skin condition to be actually seen in person by our dermatologists and hence, telehealth consultations are only available for patients who urgently need to ask the dermatologists a quick question.

For urgent appointments, please call our clinic directly on (03) 9039 5644 or ask your GP to contact us and we will see you ASAP

We currently keep some slots on stand-by for urgent appointments. 

Yes. We understand that you may have a referral letter which your GP has addressed to another dermatology clinic.

You will be able to use this referral letter to see our dermatologists and to claim your applicable Medicare Rebate.

We send SMS reminders out 2 – 7 days prior to your appointment. Simply reply ‘YES’ to that SMS to confirm your appointment.

To cancel/reschedule appointments, please call our clinic. As a courtesy, please give 48 hours notice of cancellations so that your appointment slot may be then offered to another patient.

Please bring your doctors referral, Medicare Card and any relevant pathology/bloods/xray reports etc so that our reception staff can process these for your medical file. For new patients, please also bring your completed patient registration form, which can be downloaded here. Alternatively for NEW PATIENTS, please arrive 10 minutes earlier than your appointment time in order to complete paperwork.

At the first appointment, we will take a thorough history and go through all your skin products (including hair care, perfumes, nail polishes etc). It is important you bring all the products you are using to the appointment. If you cannot bring all your products, then take photos of the products (including clear photos of the detailed ingredient lists). If you no longer have the full ingredient list on a particular product, then we will be able to source the ingredient list for you. It is important to recall all products you may be using for hobbies/work (as these products can transfer to the rest of your skin and potentially be a cause of allergic contact dermatitis eg. wet wipes with baby care, glues with renovating and hobbies, nail polish etc).

After our dermatologists have established that you need patch testing, we will make up and order the relevant patches, which can take 1 week to be ready.

Then you will have an appointment with our nurse for patch application to the back area. We will then make another appointment for 2 days time to remove the patches and perform the initial interpretation to see if there are any patches which show a reaction.

Then another 2 days after, there is the final appointment for the final reading of the patches to ascertain if there is any delayed reaction. At this final appointment, your dermatologist will give you the full results and interpretation of the patch testing and formalise an individualised treatment plan for managing your skin condition.

Yes we do. Our staff can assist you in English, Vietnamese, Mandarin and Shanghaiese dialect. Please inform our staff at the time of booking our appointment for your language preference, so we can book the appointment with the appropriate dermatologist.

Dr Hope Dinh speaks Vietnamese and Dr Sarah Shen speaks Mandarin and Shanghaiese dialect. Dr Joy Yee speaks Mandarin.

We are ALWAYS ABLE to arrange for an external interpreter in the language of your choice, at no cost to your. Just please give us notice to arrange this. You are also most welcome to bring in a relative/friend to interpret for you. 

We treat a wide range of skin conditions from newborns to the elderly.

• Skin checks, mole checks
• Skin cancer and melanoma surveillance and surgery (including flaps and grafts done on-site in our procedure rooms)
• Acne 
• Eczema, acute skin rashes, allergic skin reactions 
• Psoriasis including biologic therapy treatment
• Urticaria (hives) including treatment with the latest in biologics for chronic spontaneous urticaria
• Vitiligo and other pigmentary issues 
• Warts, molluscum
• Acute rashes including patch testing for allergies
• Birthmarks
• Hair loss 
• Nail conditions 
• Warts and molluscum
• Oral mucosal conditions 
• Genital dermatology
• Cosmetic dermatology concerns including medical grade skin care, laser rejuvenation, anti-ageing injectables, scar reduction treatments

Experience and specialisation are the key differences. Skin cancer clinics are usually run by non-skin specialist doctors. Hope Dermatology is run by dermatologists (Fellows of the Australasian College of Dermatologists) who have received rigorous and extensive, formal training in the diagnosis and management of all skin conditions including skin cancers. Our passionate dermatologists are experts in the early detection of skin cancers. 

We are pleased to offer you a range of tailored cosmetic dermatology treatments which go hand-in-hand with our dermatologists’ instructions. Our treatments include:

• Pigment and Vascular Laser
• Laser Genesis 
• Medical-Grade Peels
• Skin Needling 
• Dermal Filler
• Anti-wrinkle injections
• Injections to treat underarm sweating (partially rebatable under Medicare)
• Medical-grade skin care ranges
• Ultraformer III treatments 
• LPL – LED light treatments

Please speak with our staff to arrange an appointment with our experienced dermal clinician and cosmetics nurse – PLEASE NOTE ..AS OF MONDAY 23rd NOVEMBER ALL THESE TREATMENTS ARE AVAILABLE DUE TO RESTRICTIONS BEING LIFTED BY THE VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT. 

Our doctors and cosmetic nurse will always formulate an individualised treatment plan for your skin. We stock a range of products from Ego/QV, La Roche Posay,  Rationale (online Doctor code 13750-RA10), Dermaceuticals and O Cosmedics. Please speak with our cosmetics nurse or our friendly reception staff for more details on our skin care ranges.

For more information about cosmetic dermatology treatments, please click here.

Please ensure that you bring pictures/lists of the skin products you are using on your face/body so that our cosmetics team can advise about which skin products/treatments would compliment your existing regime. Please let us know if you have had any allergies or skin sensitivity to certain products in the past. Also let us know what skin treatments you have had in the past such as peels, injectables or laser etc. Our cosmetics team will make a detailed assessment of skin and hence please arrive to your appointment without any makeup on.

Cosmetic injectables are performed by our highly skilled nurses and dermatologists – Ms Kristie Phillips (Div1 nurse), Ms Laura Zi LIU (Div 1 nurse) and Dr Hope Dinh. For cosmetic appointments please contact reception.

Dermatologist consultations

When you make your initial booking, you will be informed of the dermatologist consultation fee, including the out-pocket-fees after the Medicare rebate. Additional fees are applicable if procedures are performed (e.g. biopsies, injections, cryotherapy freezing or surgical excisions). Please note that reception staff can give you an estimate of what additional fees may be and Medicare rebates but please be aware this is NOT a quote and may vary depending on what is being performed by the dermatologist on the day. Reception staff will not not know the full extent of your procedures and therefore are unable to give quotes. If you have any further queries regarding this matter, please ask to speak to the Office Manager. Eligible pensioners have discounted rates applicable.

For fee estimates, please contact us on 9039 5644

Veterans with DVA Gold or White card will be fully covered for all consultations and treatment/surgery.

Cosmetic Consultations

To book an appointment with our nurse/dermal clinician for a skin care consultation call the practice on (03) 9039 5644. Cosmetic consultations are approximately 45 minutes in duration and there is a fee of $50.00 + GST = $55. This cosmetic fee is fully redeemable on cosmetic treatments booked either on the day or within 3 months of the appointment.

Unfortunately, no. For Australian residents, legislation does not allow private health insurance providers to cover for medical services rendered outside the hospital setting.  If you do not have Medicare and you are a non Australian Resident you may be able to claim private health insurance. However we strongly recommend you seek advise from your insurance company prior to your appointment. Many insurance companies ask for a report with your receipt. If this report is to be completed by the dermatologist there will be an additional charge for this legal medical report. 

If you are an overseas student/visitor without a valid Medicare card, your overseas private health insurance usually partially covers the cost of the consultation/procedure(s). After paying our clinic fees on the day of consultation, our receptionists will provide you with the receipt and you can submit this to your health insurance company. Generally, most overseas private health insurance companies will refund you back the same amount as the Medicare Rebate for people with a Medicare card. If there is any paperwork that requires our doctors signatures, please bring this to your visit for completion on the day.

Our brand new, modern rooms are located at 230 York Street, South Melbourne Vic 3205. With a spacious fit-out of 8 consulting/procedural rooms, we are proud to service our patients and clients with the latest in dermatology equipment for medical, surgical and cosmetic dermatology issues. We are close to the iconic South Melbourne Market and surrounding suburbs of Port Melbourne, Albert Park, South Yarra, Melbourne CBD and Southbank. We are easily serviced by the number 96 Tram from the Melbourne CBD and also trams along Clarendon Street, South Melbourne. We are also close to the M1 freeway entrance, providing easy access for patients from peripheral suburbs or rural areas. There is ample un-metered parking available on the street. Otherwise on market days (Wednesdays and Fridays) you can park at the South Melbourne Market without charge for 2 hours (and perhaps enjoy the market after your appointment with us!).

Our purpose-built dermatology centre in South Melbourne provides state of the art facilities for non-hospital based dermatology procedures including

• biopsies 
• curettage
• electrocautery
• cryotherapy
• excisions
• advanced surgical procedures such as excisions with flap/graft repair
• cosmetic dermatology treatments including vascular and pigment laser, anti-wrinkle injections, dermal filler, medical grade-peels & skin needling

Some medical conditions may affect your surgery. Please inform your doctor if you have the following:

• Easy fainting
• Pacemaker
• Heart valve diseases.
• Recent joint replacement surgeries.
• Take regular blood thinner medications such as warfarin.
• History of antibiotic, anaesthetic or latex allergies.
• Take any supplements such as fish oil.
• Any significant medical history and regular medications

As all skin cancer surgeries are performed under local anaesthesia, there is no need to fast for the surgery. We encourage you to be well hydrated before your surgery. 

Unless instructed by our dermalogy staff, there is no need to shave around the surgery site (as this increases the infection risk).

Most of the time, we will not request you to stop your blood thinning medication if you are taking this for medical purposes. We do advise that all non-essential supplements (such as fish oil, gingko) be ceased ideally 1 week prior to surgery.

As unexpected wound problems or bleeding may occur, we recommend that you organize suitable transport arrangement to take you home after surgery. We do not recommend driving yourself after surgery, especially if surgery involves the face, scalp, hands or legs.

All pathology results will be sent to our clinic for doctor review and also a copy of those results will typically be forwarded to your referring GP/specialist. 

Blood tests/ X-rays results will usually take approximately 1-3 weeks for the results to come back to us. Our staff will contact you with any abnormal results. 

When we perform any skin biopsies or surgery, any specimens that have been taken will be sent off for laboratory testing. The results typically take about 3 – 4 business days to come back to us. Scalp biopsy results for hair loss typically take longer as these need to be sent interstate to a specialist histopathologist and these results may be delayed until 3 weeks post biopsy. Typically, at the date of planned removal of sutures, pathology results will have been seen by our staff and the results will be discussed at that appointment. 

Should you be concerned about your bloods/biopsy tests and have not heard from us, please contact our nursing staff for information. 

We understand there are times when you miss your appointment due to emergencies/work/family obligations.  However, if you are unable to keep your appointment we ask that you kindly provide us with 48 hours notice. Your courtesy will make it possible to offer your appointment to another patient. This is how we are able to keep our wait list times short for easy patient access.

If an appointment is not confirmed by 2:00pm on the day prior, we will offer your appointment to another patient. 

It is important we collect and store your medical information in a secure manner. Our practice has developed a Privacy Policy. Please click here if you wish to understand more.