Hi Sarah, I used to pay privately for a Gastro Specialist (at Caboolture) he was the one who sent me privately for a Fibroscan. Realising I needed a Psych assessment and ongoing monitoring and I couldn't afford it he referred me to the Royal Brisbane - their Liver New Clinic. I had to wait a long time - more than 6 mths? to get in. being public. You don't get any choice about who you see hence the 'nice' Dr with highly prejudiced views

It was decided I was not eligible for Interferon (Yay! didn't want it anyway) but 'new' drugs were on their way and I needed to stay in the system. So, I've been waiting in the system for the past couple of years or so. Finally, got a great Specialist that encouraged me, somewhat conspiratorially, to contact this site, do some research and offered to give me a script and monitoring. I'm just waiting to see my GP this week who's supposed to have contacted him to discuss my plan.
So, if you go public then you get no choice who you see. If you want to know the name of the private Specialist who did my Fibroscan I can tell you but you will still need referral.
Good Luck