Preventative health checks at Coogee Beach Doctors
Comprehensive bloods, cardiovascular and metabolic baselines, and a tailored care plan — with Dr Phil Orme or Dr Lucy Herron, consulting at the practice.
What a preventative health check involves
A preventative health check is a structured, longer consultation with a GP who has time to look across your physical health markers — bloods, cardiovascular, metabolic, hormonal, and lifestyle — and put a plan together with you. It's evidence-based GP care, not a wellness package. The aim is to identify modifiable risks early, build a documented baseline you can compare against year-over-year, and surface anything that needs follow-up.
At Coogee Beach Doctors, preventative health consultations are offered by Dr Phil Orme (clinical interests in advanced prevention, longevity and lifestyle medicine) and Dr Lucy Herron (clinical interests across all aspects of general practice including women's and family health). The first consultation is usually a long visit — 30 minutes — to take a full history, decide which bloods and screening tests are clinically indicated, and book a follow-up to walk through results.
A preventative health check isn't a guarantee that nothing will develop. It's a structured way of catching common, modifiable risks early — high blood pressure, raised cholesterol, prediabetes, low iron, vitamin D and B12, thyroid, and cancer-screening pathways aligned to your age and risk profile.
What’s included?
Long consultation — time to talk through history, current symptoms, and what's clinically indicated
Structured bloods — lipids, glucose, kidney, liver, thyroid, iron studies, B12, vitamin D, plus age-appropriate screening
Cardiovascular and metabolic baselines — blood pressure, BMI (where clinically appropriate), waist circumference
Cancer-screening pathway alignment — bowel, breast, cervical, prostate, skin (Dr Lyle for skin)
A documented baseline you can compare against next year
Tailored to your age, sex, family history and lifestyle — not a one-size-fits-all package
Is a preventative health check right for you?
If you're not sure which type of consultation is right, call reception on (02) 9665 5438, they can talk it through with you before you book.
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✓ Adults of any age, but especially patients in their 40s, 50s and 60s where preventative cardiovascular, metabolic, and cancer-screening pathways are most cost-effective.
✓ Anyone with a family history of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, or cancer who wants a structured baseline.
✓ Patients returning to general practice after a long gap, common after parenting, caring, career-shifts, or relocations.
✓ Patients already working with a personal trainer, physiotherapist, naturopath or coach who'd like a coordinated medical baseline alongside.
✓ Anyone who has been told by a GP they've seen previously to "come back in a year" and never has.
✓ Patients eligible for a Medicare Health Assessment, over-75s, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults aged 15+, and patients in specific risk groups (Phil or Lucy will check eligibility on the day).
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✘ Patients with a current acute clinical concern. A preventative health check is a longer consultation; if something is currently wrong, a standard or long consultation focused on the issue is the right starting point. Phil or Lucy can decide on the day what's needed.
✘ Patients seeking specific functional-medicine or naturopathy panels (heavy-metal panels, food-sensitivity IgG, comprehensive stool analysis, hormone-saliva panels). Most of these tests don't have evidence of clinical benefit and aren't ordered at the practice.
✘ Patients seeking unindicated whole-body MRI or CT scans for screening. These aren't standard preventative care; Phil or Lucy can discuss what is clinically indicated.
What to expect at your preventative health check
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Book a long consultation (30 minutes), reception will help. Bring any previous blood results, scan reports, or specialist letters from the past 5 years if you have them. If you're not fasting, that's fine, bloods can be ordered on the day either way; Phil or Lucy will decide on the day whether fasting bloods are needed. Wear something easy to roll up sleeves.
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Reception confirms your details and Medicare card.
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our GP takes a full history, current health, past conditions, family history, medications, lifestyle, and what brought you in for a check. They'll measure blood pressure, weight (if clinically appropriate), waist circumference, and may run an in-room ECG if cardiovascular risk factors warrant it.
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Your GP orders the bloods and screening tests that are clinically indicated for your age, sex and risk profile, often including lipids, glucose, kidney, liver, thyroid, iron studies, B12, vitamin D, and any age-appropriate cancer-screening pathway. They'll explain what each test is for, the expected turnaround, and how the results will be discussed (most commonly a follow-up consult or telehealth review).
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Bloods are usually drawn at a nearby pathology collection centre (the practice has on-site phlebotomy at certain times, reception will confirm). Results typically come within 3–7 working days. A follow-up consultation is booked to discuss results and finalise the care plan; this is usually a standard or long consult depending on what's flagged.
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Preventative testing is most useful when it's clinically indicated, testing without clear indication can produce false-positive results that lead to further testing without clear benefit. That's why your GP decides which tests to order based on your individual risk, not a fixed panel. If a result requires further investigation, your GP will explain what it means, what the next test is for, and what the alternative pathways look like.
Meet your preventative health team
Dr Lucy Herron
MBBS, FRACGP, DCH
Dr Lucy Herron is a consulting GP at Coogee Beach Doctors. She graduated in medicine from the University of New South Wales in 2006 and completed a Diploma of Child Health, with additional training through the Australian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine and obesity-management training through Valita.
Dr Herron offers preventative health consultations for patients across the lifespan, with a particular interest in evidence-based approaches to hormonal health, gut health and mental health. She incorporates lifestyle and complementary therapies alongside conventional treatment when appropriate, and provides antenatal shared care as an affiliate of the Royal Hospital for Women, Randwick and RPA Newtown.
Dr Herron is currently accepting new patients.
Dr Phil Orme
MBBS, FRACGP, Clinical Diploma in Palliative Medicine, CHIA
Dr Phil Orme is a consulting GP at Coogee Beach Doctors who returned to the practice in April 2026, after a career that spanned haematology and specialist palliative medicine before he completed fellowship in general practice with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.
Dr Orme has clinical interests in advanced prevention, longevity and lifestyle medicine. His approach to preventative care is built on continuity of care, longer first consultations, and building a documented baseline that can be revisited year over year, particularly for high-achieving professionals managing workplace stress, executive burnout and performance.
Beyond his GP fellowship, Dr Orme also holds a Clinical Diploma in Palliative Medicine and is a Certified Health Informatician Australasia (CHIA). He is a Coogee local, runs the coastal trail when he isn't at the practice, and is currently welcoming new patients. Telehealth follow-ups are available for established patients where clinically appropriate.
Frequently asked questions about preventative health checks
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A preventative health check is a longer consultation focused on screening, baseline-setting, and risk assessment, rather than treating a current symptom. The GP takes a full history, runs through which tests are clinically indicated for your age and risk profile, and works with you on a care plan. Most people book it as a long consult (30 min) at the first visit.
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Preventative health consultations at the practice are billed under standard GP Medicare items, and the practice is private-billing, bulk-billing isn't offered for these consultations. The Medicare rebate is processed automatically with a valid Medicare card, and reception will confirm the out-of-pocket gap before booking; EFTPOS and HICAPS are available on-site. Bloods are processed by external pathology, and most standard panels are bulk-billed by the pathology provider; some specialised tests attract an additional patient cost, which the consulting GP will explain before ordering.
Several Medicare Health Assessment items may apply if you're in a specific cohort (over-75s, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults aged 15+, patients aged 45–49 with risk factors, and patients with intellectual disability), the consulting GP will check eligibility on the day.
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No. You can book directly with Phil or Lucy. If a specialist referral is needed off the back of the check, your GP will write it on the day.
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Pharmacy-based blood pressure checks (some pharmacies offer these for free) are a different pathway. A blood pressure check at the practice is part of a longer GP consultation, where the reading sits alongside a structured cardiovascular risk assessment.
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No, dental care is provided by dentists, not GPs. The practice doesn't offer dental services. If you're due for a check-up, see a local dentist.
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For most adults, every 1–2 years; for patients with cardiovascular, metabolic, or cancer risk factors, your GP may recommend annually. The right cadence is set during the first consultation.
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Preventative GP services are Medicare-billed, not private-health-fund-billed, so health-fund extras don't apply to the consultation itself. Some funds include "preventative health" benefits under specific extras tiers; check directly with your fund. The Medicare rebate is processed automatically with a valid Medicare card.
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It's not too late. A first consultation is the place to start, regardless of how long it's been. Your GP will work with you on what's most useful to look at first.
Disclaimer: The content here is general information about preventative health checks at Coogee Beach Doctors. It is not medical advice for your individual situation. The right tests for you depend on your age, sex, family history and current health, and your GP will discuss what's clinically indicated during the consultation.
Book a skin cancer check today
When you're ready, the practice has long consultations available with Phil and Lucy.
Looking for something else?
Here are some of the other services available at Coogee Beach Doctors:
Skin cancer checks
For full-body checks with dermoscopy and a documented baseline, Dr Edward Lyle is one of the consulting doctors at the practice who offers structured skin cancer checks.
Perimenopause and menopause
For 40s and 50s patients navigating perimenopause symptoms like sleep, mood or cycle changes, Dr Lucy Herron has a clinical interest in hormonal health and offers longer consultations at the practice.
Iron infusions
For patients with iron deficiency confirmed on bloods who haven't responded to oral supplementation, iron infusions are offered at the practice as the next step in the pathway.