About Us

Respiratory West is a specialty practice in Perth established and run by experienced consultant respiratory physicians. These doctors are committed to providing the best possible support for general practitioners and care for patients suffering from all aspects of respiratory disorders.

This website contains information on our doctors, the services that are available and how to make an appointment. We have also included useful information on some common conditions that we treat.

Respiratory West regrets that due to the re-deployment of our doctors into public health roles and recent retirements of our colleagues we have limited capacity to accept referrals for new patients.

While most of our clinicians are accepting new referrals, we have had to limit the numbers of referrals we can accept and are attempting to triage referrals in order of medical necessity.

To this end, please see below for the individual physicians’ specialties and general availability. Referrals with detailed history will help us greatly to prioritise your patients properly.

If you have particularly urgent cases, please contact us directly via phone to discuss the best options as this may be admission to hospital, or we may be able to advise further testing while awaiting review. Please do not fax these urgent cases, as it may delay your patient’s review if we later have to contact you to suggest an alternative practice.

We thank you for your understanding over this difficult period. We hope to be at full capacity again soon.

Our Doctors

Professor Eli Gabbay

Professor Gabbay graduated with honours from UWA medical School in 1987 and obtained his fellowship in Respiratory Medicine in 1995. He trained at RPH, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne and Stanford University Hospital where he obtained his Directorate of Medicine. He is a Professor of Medicine at University of Notre Dame Australia and University of Western Australia, is the Deputy Director of Medical Services and Director of Clinical Training at St John of God Medical Services and holds senior positions in the WA Health Department. He is the Chairman of the Bendat Family Respiratory Research and Development Fund and remains active in clinical research, teaching, mentoring and supervision of higher degree by research.

He has ongoing interests in Advanced Lung Disease, Occupational Lung Disease and Medico-Legal assessments. Professor Gabbay is an approved Respiratory Specialist for WorkCover WA with extensive experience in providing expert Medico-Legal opinion.

Currently new referrals are limited to medico-legal assessments and occupational lung disease.

Dr Miranda Smith

Dr Smith graduated with honours from the University of Western Australia and then trained locally at Royal Perth Hospital and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Respiratory Medicine. Having completed her FRACP she subsequently completed subspecialty training in Sleep Medicine and Pulmonary Physiology at the Western Australian Sleep Disorder Research Institute. There her research included investigating motor neurone disease and non-invasive ventilation. As a consultant, she currently works at St John of God Subiaco, providing inpatient and outpatient services in both Respiratory and Sleep specialties while also working part time at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in the WA Sleep Disorder Research Institute. In 2022 she also worked as the Director of Clinical Training for medicine at SCGH enjoying the chance to teach junior doctors.

She joined Respiratory West in 2017 and is interested in all aspects of adult respiratory medicine (age 15 and up) including asthma, COPD, interstitial lung disease, bronchiectasis, lung cancer, sleep disordered breathing (commonly obstructive sleep apnoea), and insomnia.

Dr Smith is no longer able to see patients without private health insurance, this is particularly so for lung cancer patients as having left Royal Perth Hospital to focus on her private practice and St John of God Hospital Subiaco, she is no longer able to admit to a public hospital for any procedures that may be required. Please check with your patient if they have private health insurance before referring to avoid delays to their care.

Currently new referrals have very limited capacity with an average wait time of six months (many conditions would not be suitable to wait this long and an alternative will be suggested). Interstitial lung disease, lung cancer, bronchiectasis and sleep disordered breathing will be prioritised. For timely review, this may require admission to hospital for work-up of these conditions. She is happy to be contacted by referrers via St John of God Hospital Subiaco Switchboard and this is particularly preferred if it is an urgent case.

Dr Kuan Pin Lim

Dr KP Lim is a respiratory specialist who graduated from St. George’s Hospital Medical School, University of London, and has worked in the UK, Sydney and Perth. He attained his Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP), and has worked at Royal Perth Hospital, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and Fiona Stanley Hospital.

He has completed a WA Cancer and Palliative Care Network (WACPN) research fellowship at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and Fiona Stanley Hospital, and is in the process of finishing a Masters of Clinical Research at the University of Western Australia on the topic of lung cancer screening with low-dose CT scans. He continues to be active in clinical research both in lung cancer screening and interstitial lung disease.

Dr Lim works in all areas of general respiratory medicine. He has a special interest in interstitial lung disease, lung cancer, rare lung disease, severe airways disease and pulmonary hypertension. He currently provides inpatient care for respiratory patients at St. John of God Hospital, Subiaco. He continues to work in the public system a consultant respiratory physician at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.

Dr Lim will continue to accept urgent and non-urgent respiratory referrals. However, please note our practice’s current capacity limitations.

Dr Maree Azzopardi

Dr Azzopardi is an adult Respiratory and Sleep Physician. She was born and raised in Queensland where she also graduated from medical school. She undertook specialist training in Respiratory Medicine at The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth. In addition to training in general Respiratory Medicine, she has also undertaken 12-month fellowships in Pleural Medicine, Pulmonary Physiology and Sleep Medicine at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. She has worked as a consultant Respiratory Physician at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital, Queensland and currently also works at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.

Dr Azzopardi has a keen interest in clinical research and has completed a WA Cancer and Palliative Care Network Fellowship for research in thoracic malignancy and pleural disease. Her research has included a randomised trial involving the use of indwelling pleural catheters for malignant pleural disease. Her sleep medicine research focus has been on assessing and stratifying risk of post-operative cardiorespiratory complications in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea.

Dr Azzopardi’s main interests are lung lesion diagnostics, lung cancer, pleural disease, airways disease and respiratory sleep disorders e.g. obstructive sleep apnoea. She is skilled in the use of endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) for the diagnosis of lung lesions and in performing ultrasound-guided pleural procedures. She would be delighted to accept new referrals.

Dr Adrian Hernest

Dr Adrian Hernest is a West Australian trained Respiratory Specialist who is currently also working part time at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital as the completing a Fellowship in Sleep Medicine.

Dr Hernest grew up in Romania and completed his medical degree (MD) there in 2003 before moving later to Perth in 2008 to work at Royal Perth Hospital. He completed his Australian Medical Council Certificate and then went on to train in Respiratory and Sleep Medicine at Royal Perth Hospital, Fiona Stanley Hospital and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, completing his FRACP in 2021. He has undertaken a 12 month fellowship in Interventional Bronchoscopy and is now completing a 24 month fellowship in Pulmonary Physiology and Sleep Medicine at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (completing 2023).

Dr Hernest works in all areas of general respiratory medicine, with special interest in lung cancer, lung cancer diagnostics (interventional bronchoscopy eg. endobronchial ultrasound guided biopsy).

He is currently working part time at Respiratory West and admits patients to SJOG Hospital Subiaco.

He is happy to accept new referrals. If this is for an urgent lung cancer or other urgent matter contact via SJOG Hospital switchboard is preferred.

Appointments

How to make an appointment

As this is a specialist medical practice, patients are required to discuss their illness with their general practitioner or other referring practitioner who will determine if a referral to one of the doctors at Respiratory West is required.

Referrals must be received and assessed by the doctors before any appointment can be offered. Referrals can be submitted by e-mail.

You can contact us at the consulting rooms which are staffed from 9.00am to 4.30pm, Monday to Thursday (except public holidays),9.00am to 4.30pm on Friday. You can also contact us by email. We aim to respond to your query before the end of the next working day.

Please note, our doctors are not able to offer email consultations.

Fees

Fees are set up by the individual doctors and they depend on the service being provided. If you have any queries regarding the fees please contact our reception staff who will be happy to run through the fees with you.

Full payment of fees is required at the time of consultation. Payment methods include cash, cheque, eftpos or credit card (Mastercard and Visa only). You may be entitled to a rebate from Medicare following payment of your account, which can be claimed immediately at our reception. 

If you are unable to afford the costs of seeing our doctors, please ask your doctor to refer you to the respiratory service at your local hospital. These are teaching hospitals where our doctors visit occasionally however there is no guarantee that you will be seen by a Respiratory West doctor.

What to bring to your appointment

On the day of your appointment bring any current and old x-rays and a list of your current medications. If you are taking any inhalers, also bring them with you.

You will need to bring a current referral letter, unless one has already been sent to our office. Referrals are the responsibility of the patient, therefore it is up to you to ensure your referral is current and valid. It is a Medicare requirement that you have a valid referral to ensure you receive your entitled rebate. If you do not have a current referral your Medicare rebate will be drastically reduced.

If you are having a lung function test

If you are having lung function testing we ask that you avoid having your reliever (Ventolin, Asmol) for 6 hours prior and your long acting reliever (Oxis, Serevent, Seretide, Symbicort) for 12 hours prior. You should continue with all other medications.

Cancellation policy

If you cannot attend an appointment you need to notify us at least 24 hours before. This enables us to provide an appointment to another patient. If you cancel less than 24 hours in advance or do not attend your scheduled appointment, a $110.00 cancellation fee will apply. This fee is not refunded by Medicare.

Phone: 08 9442 3900
Fax: 08 9382 8946
E-mail: reception@respiratorywest.com.au

Location:
Suite 326, Level 3, 25 McCourt St, Subiaco

(SJOG Subiaco Clinic)