Terms of Service
Our Terms of Service set out the rights and responsibilities for us as a service provider and the rights and responsibilities for you as a participant. They outline the agreement you make with Patches Therapy Services, forming part of your Service Agreement. These terms are subject change. Any changes will be communicated with you. If you have any questions, please contact us at: enquiries@patches.com.au
Rights and Responsibilites
What you can expect from Patches Therapy Services, and what we ask of you.
We will:
• Follow the NDIS Practice Standards and provide high quality therapy services.
• Ensure you are consulted and included in decisions about your therapy services.
• Make sure you have all the information you need to make informed decisions about your therapy services.
• Design a therapy plan and goals in consultation with you and your important people.
• Keep a record of your therapy progress and keep you updated on how you’re progressing.
• Ask for your feedback & work with your ideas.
• Help you participate in the community.
• Help you achieve more independence.
• Promote safe work practices and environments.
• Make sure all our therapists are suitably qualified and attend regular training.
• Keep your information safe and protect your privacy.
You can:
• Request an interpreter or translator if you need one.
• Cease services with us at any time.
• Expect therapists to be respectful and considerate.
• Access your personal information, therapy plan and notes when you like upon request.
• Provide feedback at any time via feedback@patches.com.au.
We ask you to:
• Be respectful of your therapy team.
• Work with us on your therapy plans and goals.
• Be considerate of other participants in therapy groups and activities.
• Respect Patches Therapy Services property and resources.
• Provide information about any health conditions you have.
• Let us know if you need to change or cancel an appointment as soon as possible in line with Patches Cancellation Policy.
Patches Australia Service Scope
When we receive a referral, we will communicate to the referrer within 2 business days whether we:
• Accept the referral and can provide a service immediately.
• Accept the referral but are unable to provide a service immediately and will offer advice around waitlist timeframes.
• Need more information about the referral in order to support our decision making.
• Decline the referral based on the service request not meeting our service delivery criteria. We will then communicate why the referral is declined and offer suggestions for other service providers.
We may also request a risk assessment be completed for accepted referrals before services can commence. This is to ensure we have a plan for delivering services safely for participants and our staff. The cost of this risk assessment (up to 1 hour) is charged to the participant and included in the Service Agreement quotation.
Service Pricing
Patches Therapy Services pricing is aligned with the NDIS Pricing Arrangements which you can access on the NDIS website, or via the FAQ section on our website. Please note that our pricing may be subject to change. We will notify you of any changes that occur. All therapy services will be outlined to you on a Service Agreement before proceeding with any programs or interventions.
We charge for the following activities:
• All appointments with your therapy team. Appointments are generally charged in 1-hour blocks which include 45 minutes of therapy and 15 minutes of preparation and completion of case notes.
• If there is more than one therapist at an appointment, you will be charged for each therapist, but this will be discussed with you beforehand to gain consent.
• Talking with you in person, by phone, text message and email.
• Working with the people in your life to make sure therapy happens in everyday situations.
• Travel to the locations where you choose to receive therapy.
• Completing assessments including safety assessments and reviews.
• Writing safety plans as necessary.
• Goal setting and creating documents to support easy access to these goals for you or your family.
• Writing reports reflecting progress and outcomes on the goals set with you and recommendations for future therapy supports.
• Helping you with assistive technology.
• Creating resources that help you achieve your goals.
• Your therapy team working together to provide therapy and helping you achieve your goals.
• Completing reports, including mandatory reports required by professional bodies under our duty of care.
We don’t charge for the following activities:
• Booking appointments with you.
• Setting up NDIS services, including completing Service Agreements and creating service bookings.
• Completing invoices and payments.
• Therapists or students who attend appointments for learning purposes.
Travel
We aim to provide therapy in the locations where you would like to receive it. This can include your home, school, workplace and community settings.
Travel costs are included in your therapy budget. Where possible we will try to book appointments with other participants in your area on the same day to reduce travel costs.
We charge 0.97 cents per kilometer and the time it takes for your therapist to travel to and from an appointment from their regular place of work or between appointments.
If you are living in remote or very remote areas, our therapists may have to drive longer distances or fly to reach you. We try to see as many people as we can on these trips to keep travel costs low, but it costs a bit more for us to get to you. You can also choose to come into one of our clinics or receive therapy online via telehealth. You can find a clinic near you by visiting patches.com.au
Travel Caps
We adhere to the travel limits set out in the NDIS Pricing Arrangements:
Travel in metro and regional areas:
• The maximum we charge for travel per appointment in metropolitan areas and some regional centers is 30 minutes each way.
• The maximum we charge for travel per appointment in regional areas is 60 minutes each way.
Travel in rural and remote areas:
• If we have an office in your area, the maximum we will charge for travel per appointment is 60 minutes each way.
• If we don’t have an office in your area and we need to drive long distances or fly to reach you, we will discuss this with you and provide a quote.
• We also offer FIFO therapy to some remote locations. FIFO/DIDO travel costs are kept low by splitting the total costs across the maximum participants seen.
Cancellations
You will receive 2 SMS reminders for your appointments:
• The first reminder is sent 7 business days prior to your appointment.
• The second reminder is sent 3 business days prior to your appointment.
If you need to change or cancel an appointment, we ask that you provide:
• 2 business days’ notice for all local metro, regional and remote appointments.
• For all Outreach appointments we request 5 business days’ notice.
To cancel or change an appointment, please call our administrative team on (08) 62801259 during business hours or email enquiries@patches.com.au . Please do not contact your therapist directly, as they may not receive your message in time.
Where appropriate telehealth options will be offered as an alternative when cancelling face-to-face appointments.
If you miss an appointment or cancel outside the specified time frame, we will charge you the full cost of your appointment. This may include the cost of travel if we have already left to attend the appointment or have incurred costs for airfares and accommodation.
If you cancel often, we will discuss your therapy services and goals with you and your support network, and what help / adjustments you might need to attend appointments. If we can’t find a solution, then we may decide to stop services until you are able to attend your appointments.
If your therapist needs to cancel an appointment, we will do our best to reschedule and you will not incur any costs.
We can also discuss other options to continue to support you in times where there may be service interruptions.
Payment for Services
Agency Managed
If you have asked the NDIS to manage all or part of your funding, this is referred to as an Agency Managed Plan.
We will need to set up an active service booking in the NDIS Portal to start delivering services.
A service booking allocates funding from your NDIS Plan for the therapy services we will provide over an agreed timeframe contained within your Service Agreement.
We will claim payment directly from the NDIS after we have provided services.
You can access processed invoices through your NDIS Participant Portal. You can also request a Statement of Services from us at any time.
Self and Plan Managed
If you are managing all or part of your NDIS funding, or if you are using a Plan Manager, we will email invoices after we have provided services.
Patches process invoices daily. Payment is required within 7 business days from the date of invoice. Please use the customer number on your invoice as the reference when making a payment. A receipt will be sent to you once the payment has been cleared.
• If payment isn’t received within 7 days, we will send you a reminder and services will be temporarily paused until payment has been processed.
• We will continue to follow up for payment of outstanding accounts until such a time when it is deemed necessary to refer any debt to a debt collection agency. All therapy services will remain paused during this time. We do not accept part-time payments.
Service Agreements
When you choose Patches Therapy Services as your service provider, we will set up a Service Agreement with you. This is a written agreement between the service provider and the participant.
The Service Agreement will outline the therapy services we will provide and how they will be delivered. The agreed budget for each service will be detailed.
Patches require that a Service Agreement is completed and agreed upon before services can commence.
If you receive an automatic plan extension from NDIS, we will continue to provide services to you uninterrupted. We will only require a new Service Agreement to be completed if further funding or services are required which differ from the original agreement.
Feedback and Complaints
We want to know when therapy is going well and when there are issues.
There are several ways you can provide us with feedback:
• Contacting your therapy team or their Team Leader directly in writing, by phone, or in person.
• Contacting our Therapy Management team by emailing feedback@patches.com.au
• We can arrange an interpreter or any other assistance you might need to provide feedback.
• Once we receive your feedback, we will address your comments and, if appropriate, act as soon as possible. We will contact you to discuss your feedback and let you know of any actions taken.
If you would prefer to speak with someone outside of Patches Therapy Services, you can contact:
• NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission: Phone 1800 035 544 or visit ndiscommission.gov.au
If you need help to make a complaint you can use an advocate. This can be a family member, friend, support worker or another agency. For example, People with Disabilities WA: Phone 1800 193 331, email info@pwdwa.org or visit their office.
Incident Management
Patches we want to ensure you receive a safe quality service. If an incident occurs, during or because of our service, we will:
• Make sure you and everyone involved is safe.
• Involve other organisations if required e.g., the Police.
• Record details about the incident on our incident management systems.
• Find out the cause of the incident.
• Make changes so our service is improved.
• Provide you with ongoing support and keep you updated on changes we have made.
• Contact the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, if this is a reportable incident.
If you feel unsafe or unhappy with our service, you can tell us by:
• Contacting your therapy team or their Team Leader in writing, by phone, or in person.
• Contacting our Therapy Management team by emailing feedback@patches.com.au
• We can arrange an interpreter or any other assistance you might need to provide feedback
• If you prefer to speak to someone outside of Patches Therapy Services, you can contact:
• NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission Phone 1800 035 544 or visit ndiscommission.gov.au
If you need help to report an incident, you can use an advocate. This can be a family member, friend, support worker or another agency, for example:
• People with Disabilities WA – Phone 1800 193 331, email info@pwdwa.org or visit their office.
Privacy
At Patches Therapy Services, we do our best to:
• Follow Australian privacy laws.
• Tell you how we keep and use your personal information.
• Answer any questions you have about privacy.
• Address any complaints you have about privacy.
• Improve how we manage and store personal information.
All Disability Service Providers are bound by the Privacy Act 1988. Patches Therapy Services works to adhere to the Australian Privacy Principles, which regulate how we collect, use, disclose and store personal information, and how individuals may access, and correct personal information held about them.
For more information about how privacy and your personal information is managed at Patches Therapy Services, visit: patches.com.au
You can also contact our Therapy Management team by emailing: feedback@patches.com.au
Terms of Service
Our Terms of Service set out the rights and responsibilities for us as a service provider and the rights and responsibilities for you as a participant.
They outline the agreement you make with Patches Therapy Services, forming part of your Service Agreement.
These terms are subject change. Any changes will be communicated with you.
If you have any questions, please contact us at enquiries@patches.com.au
Rights and Responsibilities
What you can expect from Patches Therapy Services, and what we ask of you.
We will:
• Follow the NDIS Practice Standards and provide high quality therapy services.
• Ensure you are consulted and included in decisions about your therapy services.
• Make sure you have all the information you need to make informed decisions about your therapy services.
• Design a therapy plan and goals in consultation with you and your important people.
• Keep a record of your therapy progress and keep you updated on how you’re progressing.
• Ask for your feedback & work with your ideas.
• Help you participate in the community.
• Help you achieve more independence.
• Promote safe work practices and environments.
• Make sure all our therapists are suitably qualified and attend regular training.
• Keep your information safe and protect your privacy.
You can:
• Request an interpreter or translator if you need one.
• Cease services with us at any time.
• Expect therapists to be respectful and considerate.
• Access your personal information, therapy plan and notes when you like upon request.
• Provide feedback at any time via feedback@patches.com.au
We ask you to:
• Be respectful of your therapy team.
• Work with us on your therapy plans and goals.
• Be considerate of other participants in therapy groups and activities.
• Respect Patches Therapy Services property and resources.
• Provide information about any health conditions you have.
• Let us know if you need to change or cancel an appointment as soon as possible in line with Patches Cancellation Policy.
Patches Australia Service Scope
When we receive a referral, we will communicate to the referrer within 2 business days whether we:
• Accept the referral and can provide a service immediately.
• Accept the referral but are unable to provide a service immediately and will offer advice around waitlist timeframes.
• Need more information about the referral in order to support our decision making.
• Decline the referral based on the service request not meeting our service delivery criteria. We will then communicate why the referral is declined and offer suggestions for other service providers.
We may also request a risk assessment be completed for accepted referrals before services can commence. This is to ensure we have a plan for delivering services safely for participants and our staff. The cost of this risk assessment (up to 1 hour) is charged to the participant and included in the Service Agreement quotation.
Service Pricing
Patches Therapy Services pricing is aligned with the NDIS Pricing Arrangements which you can access on the NDIS website, or via the FAQ section on our website. Please note that our pricing may be subject to change. We will notify you of any changes that occur. All therapy services will be outlined to you on a Service Agreement before proceeding with any programs or interventions.
We charge for the following activities:
• All appointments with your therapy team. Appointments are generally charged in 1-hour blocks which include 45 minutes of therapy and 15 minutes of preparation and completion of case notes.
• If there is more than one therapist at an appointment, you will be charged for each therapist, but this will be discussed with you beforehand to gain consent.
• Talking with you in person, by phone, text message and email.
• Working with the people in your life to make sure therapy happens in everyday situations.
• Travel to the locations where you choose to receive therapy.
• Completing assessments including safety assessments and reviews.
• Writing safety plans as necessary.
• Goal setting and creating documents to support easy access to these goals for you or your family.
• Writing reports reflecting progress and outcomes on the goals set with you and recommendations for future therapy supports.
• Helping you with assistive technology.
• Creating resources that help you achieve your goals.
• Your therapy team working together to provide therapy and helping you achieve your goals.
• Completing reports, including mandatory reports required by professional bodies under our duty of care.
We don’t charge for the following activities:
• Booking appointments with you.
• Setting up NDIS services, including completing Service Agreements and creating service bookings.
• Completing invoices and payments.
• Therapists or students who attend appointments for learning purposes.
Travel
We aim to provide therapy in the locations where you would like to receive it. This can include your home, school, workplace and community settings.
Travel costs are included in your therapy budget. Where possible we will try to book appointments with other participants in your area on the same day to reduce travel costs.
We charge 0.97 cents per kilometer and the time it takes for your therapist to travel to and from an appointment from their regular place of work or between appointments.
If you are living in remote or very remote areas, our therapists may have to drive longer distances or fly to reach you. We try to see as many people as we can on these trips to keep travel costs low, but it costs a bit more for us to get to you.
You can also choose to come into one of our clinics or receive therapy online via telehealth. You can find a clinic near you by visiting patches.com.au/contact/
Travel Caps
We adhere to the travel limits set ou in the NDIS Pricing Arrangements:
Travel in metro and regional areas:
• The maximum we charge for travel per appointment in metropolitan areas and some regional centers is 30 minutes each way.
• The maximum we charge for travel per appointment in regional areas is 60 minutes each way.
Travel in rural and remote areas:
• If we have an office in your area, the maximum we will charge for travel per appointment is 60 minutes each way.
• If we don’t have an office in your area and we need to drive long distances or fly to reach you, we will discuss this with you and provide a quote.
• We also offer FIFO therapy to some remote locations. FIFO/DIDO travel costs are kept low by splitting the total costs across the maximum participants seen.
Cancellations
You will receive 2 SMS reminders for your appointments:
• The first reminder is sent 7 business days prior to your appointment.
• The second reminder is sent 3 business days prior to your appointment.
If you need to change or cancel an appointment, we ask that you provide:
• 2 business days’ notice for all local metro, regional and remote appointments.
• For all Outreach appointments we request 5 business days’ notice.
To cancel or change an appointment, please call our administrative team on (08) 62801259 during business hours or email enquiries@patches.com.au . Please do not contact your therapist directly, as they may not receive your message in time.
Where appropriate telehealth options will be offered as an alternative when cancelling face-to-face appointments.
If you miss an appointment or cancel outside the specified time frame, we will charge you the full cost of your appointment. This may include the cost of travel if we have already left to attend the appointment or have incurred costs for airfares and accommodation.
If you cancel often, we will discuss your therapy services and goals with you and your support network, and what help / adjustments you might need to attend appointments. If we can’t find a solution, then we may decide to stop services until you are able to attend your appointments.
If your therapist needs to cancel an appointment, we will do our best to reschedule and you will not incur any costs.
We can also discuss other options to continue to support you in times where there may be service interruptions.
Payment for Services
Agency Managed
If you have asked the NDIS to manage all or part of your funding, this is referred to as an Agency Managed Plan.
We will need to set up an active service booking in the NDIS Portal to start delivering services.
A service booking allocates funding from your NDIS Plan for the therapy services we will provide over an agreed timeframe contained within your Service Agreement.
We will claim payment directly from the NDIS after we have provided services.
You can access processed invoices through your NDIS Participant Portal. You can also request a Statement of Services from us at any time.
Self and Plan Managed
If you are managing all or part of your NDIS funding, or if you are using a Plan Manager, we will email invoices after we have provided services.
Patches process invoices daily. Payment is required within 7 business days from the date of invoice. Please use the customer number on your invoice as the reference when making a payment. A receipt will be sent to you once the payment has been cleared.
• If payment isn’t received within 7 days, we will send you a reminder and services will be temporarily paused until payment has been processed.
• We will continue to follow up for payment of outstanding accounts until such a time when it is deemed necessary to refer any debt to a debt collection agency. All therapy services will remain paused during this time. We do not accept part-time payments.
Service Agreements
When you choose Patches Therapy Services as your service provider, we will set up a Service Agreement with you. This is a written agreement between the service provider and the participant.
The Service Agreement will outline the therapy services we will provide and how they will be delivered. The agreed budget for each service will be detailed.
Patches require that a Service Agreement is completed and agreed upon before services can commence.
If you receive an automatic plan extension from NDIS, we will continue to provide services to you uninterrupted. We will only require a new Service Agreement to be completed if further funding or services are required which differ from the original agreement.
Feedback and Complaints
We want to know when therapy is going well and when there are issues.
There are several ways you can provide us with feedback:
• Contacting your therapy team or their Team Leader directly in writing, by phone, or in person.
• Contacting our Therapy Management team by emailing feedback@patches.com.au
• We can arrange an interpreter or any other assistance you might need to provide feedback.
• Once we receive your feedback, we will address your comments and, if appropriate, act as soon as possible. We will contact you to discuss your feedback and let you know of any actions taken.
If you would prefer to speak with someone outside of Patches Therapy Services, you can contact:
• NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission Phone 1800 035 544 or visit ndiscommission.gov.au
If you need help to make a complaint you can use an advocate. This can be a family member, friend, support worker or another agency I.e. People with Disabilities WA: Phone 1800 193 331, email info@pwdwa.org or visit their office.
Incident Management
At Patches we want to ensure you receive a safe quality service.
If an incident occurs, during or because of our service, we will:
• Make sure you and everyone involved is safe.
• Involve other organisations if required E.g., the Police.
• Record details about the incident on our incident management systems.
• Find out the cause of the incident.
• Make changes so our service is improved.
• Provide you with ongoing support and keep you updated on changes we have made.
• Contact the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, if this is a reportable incident.
If you feel unsafe or unhappy with our service, you can tell us by:
• Contacting your therapy team or their Team Leader in writing, by phone, or in person.
• Contacting our Therapy Management team by emailing: feedback@patches.com.au
• We can arrange an interpreter or any other assistance you might need to provide feedback
• If you prefer to speak to someone outside of Patches Therapy Services, you can contact:
• NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission Phone 1800 035 544 or visit ndiscommission.gov.au
If you need help to report an incident, you can use an advocate. This can be a family member, friend, support worker or another agency, for example:
• People with Disabilities WA: Phone 1800 193 331, email info@pwdwa.org or visit their office.
Privacy
At Patches Therapy Services, we do our best to:
• Follow Australian privacy laws.
• Tell you how we keep and use your personal information.
• Answer any questions you have about privacy.
• Address any complaints you have about privacy.
• Improve how we manage and store personal information.
All Disability Service Providers are bound by the Privacy Act 1988. Patches Therapy Services works to adhere to the Australian Privacy Principles, which regulate how we collect, use, disclose and store personal information, and how individuals may access, and correct personal information held about them.
For more information about how privacy and your personal information is managed at Patches Therapy Services, visit: patches.com.au
You can also contact our Therapy Management team by emailing feedback@patches.com.au
