Claridge Road
CRYSTAL BROOK SA 5523

T: (08) 8636 1180
F: (08) 8636 2614
E: cbmedpra@mndgp.org.au

Sonya Irvine

Dr Tim Kelly
Dr Richard MacKinnon
Dr Sean Taylor
Dr Donna Taylor

Mon to Fri, 10:00am - 12:30pm, and 2:00pm - 4:45pm

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The practice has a broad primary health care focus with doctors skilled in a variety of medical disciplines that impact on in hospital care and procedural medicine, both for the local community and for the region as a whole. Special interests of the GPs include Paediatrics, Obstetrics, Anaesthetics, Aged Care, Mental Health, Medical Education, Women’s Health and Minor Surgery. The practice is also currently involved in the PGPPP and has an intern permanently on secondment from the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Crystal Brook is ideally situated in the Mid North: nestled amongst gum trees on the picturesque Crystal Brook, 30 minutes from the seaside locations such as Port Broughton, 20 minutes from the regional centre, Port Pirie, and 2 hours away from Adelaide along a major highway.  The Flinders Ranges are also within short driving distance.

Two major sources of employment in the town are the headquarters of Water SA and The Department of Transport and Infrastructure.  These both attract significant numbers of outside people into the town, hence making the town even more open and welcoming. Crystal Brook is one of the few SA country towns, which is projected to significantly grow in size.

Crystal Brook has a primary school and a bus service to nearby public and high quality private high schools in Port Pirie and Gladstone. The town has a whole host of sporting, recreational and social clubs, and facilities to match these, including a well-maintained public swimming pool and golf course.

The local caravan park is nested on the Crystal Brook Creek on the outskirts of town in an attractive setting. Another highlight is the local bakery, established 1875, which is one of the oldest bakeries in SA and includes an underground baking complex.

Special interests / Services and Procedures Offered

Southern Flinders Health - Crystal Brook Campus
The Hospital is a 25-bed Health Unit, which is accredited with both the Australian Council of Healthcare Standards and the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative Australia. Included are 12 nursing home care beds, 13 general acute beds, the hospital has a modern theatre, a well-equipped spacious outpatients room with an x-ray machine, and a separate accident and emergency room. Along with a weekly minor surgery clinic being carried out in outpatients and one session of theatre is held monthly.

The hospital was the first country SA hospital to be accredited as "baby-friendly" by a joint World Health Organisation and UNICEF global initiative. Obstetrics is therefore a focus of the hospital's work: on average, 60 - 80 babies are delivered each year.  Additionally elective surgical procedures are carried out fortnightly to monthly, as well as on emergency basis as required, including fracture reduction and Caesarean sections. Another focus is aged care. An aged care project team oversees a program, which continually liaises with residents and their families, and looks at how to improve the care of permanent patients. A day care service is provided once per week for the elderly in the community.

The hospital employs 25 nurses. In usual circumstances, 3 nurses are employed on early shifts, 3 on late shifts and 2 on night duty. An outreach nurse and a team of domiciliary aides and sitters re also employed by the hospital to work in the community. The hospital provides excellent standards of nursing care, particularly in the fields of aged care and obstetrics.  A wide range of services is provided, which experience can be gained across the whole spectrum of different nursing and medical areas, and across a wide spectrum of age. The local community provides support and actively participates in the activities of the hospital. There is a strong volunteer work force that helps with palliative, aged and day care services. The hospital is a welcoming, friendly place, as is the community in general.

Within the hospital, there is a separate Allied Health services room. A dietician, community-based mental health nurse, physiotherapist, and podiatrist all visit on a regular basis. A diabetes educator, and health promoter are all based in Crystal Brook.

Specialists also visit on a regular basis. A gastroenterologist with a monthly scope list, audiologist, endocrinologist, cardiologist, rheumatologist, psychiatrist and psychologist all consult in a separate room in the medical centre on a regular basis.