Yes we are. We see self-managed and plan managed clients.

YES. All clients (NDIS and Private Clients) are required to sign a service agreement before ESP can provide services. At ESP we believe in transparency. This is to ensure that all our clients are fully informed (prior to beginning with us) about our fees, invoicing, cancellation policy and the booking/cancelling/rescheduling process of appointments.

In line with current NDIS best practice recommendations, ESP does not accept other service agreements as a substitute service agreement.

All parents/guardians will be emailed a copy of ESP’s service agreement to sign and return to us, before we can book in an initial consultation.

Please note that without a signed service agreement, we are unable to confirm your initial consultation as well as any ongoing speech pathology appointments.

We are very aware that clients with NDIS funding are facing many price and policy changes. However as a small business, being an NDIS provider comes with a great deal of administrative and reporting requirements per client. Whether a client is self-managed or agency managed, we have additional administrative processes to follow. Not disclosing that you have NDIS funding will only impact on our reporting requirement for your child later in the therapy journey. All ESP fees are in line with the NDIS fee schedule.

At ESP, we offer all clients a set schedule to assist with your planning as well as ours. We do not give up your session to other clients unless you let us know in advance that you are unable to attend. By creating a set schedule, your child has a regular therapy plan with no huge gaps inbetween sessions.

ESP sets activities around each client’s goals for every appointment. It is therefore important that you are aware of ESP’s cancellation policy before confirming your ongoing therapy with us.

We require 7 complete business days' notice in line with NDIS guidelines (not including the day of the appointment), with the following options being applied in the event of a cancellation:

1) No cancellation fee – if you provide clear notice of a cancellation (7 complete business days) prior to the scheduled appointment - this does not include the day of the appointment.

2) 100% of service fee will be charged – if less than 7 full business days notice is given.

3) 100% of service fee will be charged – if you do not arrive to your scheduled appointment and no notice is given.

Late arrival - if we are able to, we will attempt to provide a full session. However, this may not be possible if another client is booked for the following appointment time slot. The full appointment fee is charged.

We understand that sometimes life gets in the way of scheduled appointment times and we do take extenuating circumstances into consideration.

At ESP we value efficient communication.

For all appointment related communication (to cancel, reschedule or book an appointment), we ask all parents/guardians to call and leave us a voicemail or to text us.

Our email address is only used to forward session notes to you, to communicate with other professionals or to distribute important information to all our clients. We are unable to correspond with clients/families on a regular basis via email.

Yes, ESP has a same day payment policy for self managed and private clients.

In order to avoid disruptions to speech pathology services, ESP clients who have self managed NDIS plans or who are paying for sessions privately, will be required to pay via EFTPOS on the day of service, if attending sessions in clinic.

If your child is seen offsite or online, then payment must be made via bank transfer, within 2 business days of the service occurring.

If you are plan managed, the invoice will be sent directly to the plan management agency for payment. All invoices for plan managed clients are due within seven days of the completed speech pathology session.

If a client has 2 unpaid invoices, ESP will contact the parent or guardian, plan manager and/or support coordinator to request that the invoices be paid. If the invoices remain unpaid after two weeks, we may put a hold on client’s ongoing speech pathology sessions until payment has been received for all outstanding invoices.

This will vary considerably depending on the age of the child and presenting concerns. We will explain the suitability of you being in the session with your child. Our aim is to have a collaborative approach and to work together as a team with parents. In most cases for older school aged children, the child will attend sessions independently without their parent. However, this is determined on an individual basis. We will provide typed feedback/session notes to the parent within 24 hours of a session occurring.

Prior to your appointment:

• If you are a new client, we will send you an online consent/agreement form prior to sessions commencing.

• Decide which device you are going to use for your Zoom session: iPad, laptop or desktop computer. We advise against using a smartphone.

• If using an iPad, download the ZOOM app via the app store or Google Play. Be sure to do this with plenty of time prior to your appointment. If using your laptop or desktop computer, you will be prompted to download zoom via the invitation your speech pathologist sends or you can download the application here: https://zoom.us/download

At your scheduled appointment time:

• We will send you a ZOOM link via email 10 minutes before your session. When you click on the link, follow the prompts. Make sure you allow your device to use the microphone and camera.

Troubleshooting:

• Make sure that the battery in your device is fully charged in preparation for your session.

• Practice placing the iPad, laptop or computer in a suitable location so that we can see you.

• Make sure the camera and audio is turned on (it is a good idea to practice before your scheduled session time).