Blow to home doctor service patients

A QUEENSLAND home doctor could be shut down – impacting thousands of patients – over allegations it owes the tax office close to half a million dollars.

Brisbane-based House Call Doctor Pty Ltd services patients from Cairns to Tweed Heads with in-home appointments that are bulk-billed.

The Deputy Commissioner of Taxation applied to the Federal Court in Brisbane on May 15 to wind up the business on the grounds it is insolvent.

The DCT stated in its application that it is relying on House Call Doctor’s failure to pay $475,457 within 21 days of January 25 – when it was served with a creditor’s demand for payment – as a ground for winding up.

Court documents state the debt is made up of payments due under business activity statements, which can include GST, PAYG withholding and fringe benefits tax.

House Call Doctor and other rival services offering mobile medical help have also been accused of unnecessarily claiming non-urgent visits as “urgent items”, in order to gain a higher rebate.

Health Minister Greg Hunt last December announced the rebate payments to “medical deputising doctors” who undertook home visits would be reduced from $129.80 to $100.

The move was triggered by a review of the Medicare benefits schedule that found the after-hours medical service industry was a significant cost to the healthcare system.

House Call Doctor’s sole director is Wayne Rodney Ormond, 45, from Kenmore, in Brisbane’s west, according to ASIC records.

Since launching in 2015, it has grown to service 16 locations across Queensland including regional areas, which have not had free after-hours medical services.

The matter is scheduled to return to court on June 21.