Dr Lisa Kennedy
New patient information request
Before your upcoming appointment, it would be very helpful if you could send through some background health information in advance.
Appointments in my practice usually involve reviewing a large amount of information and looking at your health broadly, holistically and in an integrative way. Having your background beforehand means we can spend less of the consultation gathering basic history, and more of it understanding your current issues, discussing possible diagnoses and forming a management plan.
Referral letters are helpful, but they are necessarily brief and are often out of date by the time we meet, so a summary in your own words is usually more useful.
You are welcome to reply directly to this email using the headings below, or to attach a separate document with the same information. Please write as much or as little as you can — anything you send is helpful, and we can fill in the gaps together on the day.
1.Main issues you would like to discuss
The symptoms, concerns or diagnoses you most want addressed, including when they started, how they affect you, anything that makes them better or worse, any triggers or patterns you have noticed, and what you are hoping to get out of the consultation.
2.Medical history
Current and past medical conditions and diagnoses, operations, hospitalisations and any other significant health issues.
3.Current medications and supplements
All prescription and over-the-counter medications, vitamins, minerals, herbal supplements and any other regular treatments, with doses if you know them.
4.Previous treatments you have tried
Any medications, therapies, investigations, diets or lifestyle changes you have tried for the issues above, whether they helped, and whether they caused any problems.
5.Allergies and medication side effects
Any allergies, intolerances or significant side effects you have had.
6.Family history
Particularly diabetes, cardiovascular disease, thyroid disease, autoimmune disease, hormonal conditions, obesity, gastrointestinal disease, neurological disease or cancer.
7.Lifestyle and daily routine
A brief description of your usual diet, your exercise or activity habits, whether you smoke or vape, your alcohol intake, your occupation and usual daily routine, your sleep, and anything else you feel is relevant.
8.Test results and reports
If you have them, please attach or forward recent blood test results, imaging reports, specialist letters, hospital letters or discharge summaries, procedure reports, and any other investigations relating to the issues you would like to discuss.
If there is anything else you think may be important, please include it.
Please send your responses to [email protected]
A note about how I document our consultation: I use a secure AI-assisted transcription tool to capture our discussion so that I can spend the appointment listening and talking with you rather than typing. The transcript is used only to help me prepare your clinical notes and correspondence, and I read and edit everything myself before it is finalised. If you would prefer I did not use it, please just say so at the start of the appointment.
After your appointment I write to your GP, and you will receive a copy of that letter as well. You will always be able to see exactly what has been documented about you.
You will also receive written information about the diagnoses and treatments we discuss, so that you have it to read at home rather than having to remember everything from the appointment. My website, drlisakennedy.com, has a patient portal where these information sheets are kept, along with material on a range of other conditions and treatments.
My fee structure is available here: drlisakennedy.com/fees
Thank you — having this information in advance makes a real difference to how much we can achieve in your appointment.
Kind regards,Dr Lisa Kennedy