An apple a day keeps the doctor away

Address:

30/26-30 Constable Road, Waiuku

Getting Help for Winter Illness

Busy times … we know you may be experiencing phone queues and long waits for call backs at the moment, with winter illnesses causing very high demand.  Please bear with us.

Before calling it may be useful to check out the Healthify He Puna Website for advice on managing common winter infections. Find out how to take care of yourself and whānau at home, what to watch out for and when to seek medical advice.  Go to https://healthify.nz/health-a-z/w/winter-infections/

We know you want support from your local health care team and are working hard to see as many people as possible. Unfortunately, from time to time and especially early in the week our Triage Clinics get fully booked. Don’t worry, our nurses are usually still able to offer advice by phone and there are a range of other options for urgent advice and consultation:

  1. Urgent Care Franklin, 12 Glasgow Rd, Pukekohe, Open daily 8am to 8pm, for all urgent care needs – 09 2386610
  2. KAORA Telecare, Available 5pm – 8am weekdays and 24 hours weekends and holidays for telephone and video consults (Children FREE, CSC rates offered) https://kaora.co.nz/app/
  3. Healthline FREE Any Day or Time 0800 611 116

Remember in a Medical Emergency don’t hesitate to dial 111.

If you need a routine appointment, please try and book well in advance.

Fee Changes from 1 Jul 24

In the 2 years since we last raised our fees for medical appointments costs have risen significantly and after careful review, new fees will apply from 1 Jul 24.

Car Clinic and Indoor Triage   We are not an Accident and Medical Facility but see many urgent presentations a day.  This requires additional space, telephone triage and nurse assessment and treatment, in addition to the medical consultation, so is more costly than a standard GP appointment.  Therefore, from 1 Jul 24 our fees for urgent non-ACC appointments via our Car Clinic and Triage services will be:

Given these increases, we will reduce our Saturday and Public Holiday surcharge from $15.00 to $5.00.

Standard GP Consult Fees will be increased by a lesser amount as follows: 

We aim to keep fees to a minimum while offering fair pay to staff and ensuring our services are sustainable.

Our fees for most registered patients are lower than with other providers locally including urgent care.

If you have difficulty paying for your appointment, please let us know. One option is to set up a small regular automatic payment to spread the cost.

Nurse Consult Fee Increases

From 1 Apr 24, regular Nurse Consult Fees will be as follows:

Please note:
• Additional fees may be chargeable for certain procedures and after-hours.
• The fees increase reflects rising costs of providing the services.
• We last increased nurse fees in 2011.
• Our nurses are highly skilled and offer a wide range of services.

As always, we do not wish cost to be a barrier. If you have difficulty paying for your appointment, please let us know.

Vaccine to Combat Newer Strains of COVID-19

From 7 March 24, the XBB.1.5 vaccine is available funded for the following groups:

everyone 30 years and older
– people aged 16-29 who are pregnant
– people aged 12-29 at higher risk of severe illness from COVID 19

If it is 6 months since your last COVID vaccination and you haven’t had COVID in the last 6-months you can book with us for the new vaccine.

The new vaccine is highly effective at preventing severe illness, and is especially recommended for the following groups:

– people aged 65 and over
– Māori and Pacific people aged 50 and older
– residents of aged care facilities
– severely immunocompromised people aged 12 years and older
– people aged 12 years and older who have a medical condition that increases the risk of severe illness from COVID-19

Call us on 09 2359102 and follow the prompts, or e-mail vaccines@waiukumedical.co.nz, to book.

Telephone Outage Thursday 29 February 24

On Thursday 29 February 24, we will have a short telephone outage as we switch to a new provider. This will be after 12 noon and likely before 1pm but may be later.

During this time, you will still be able to contact us at reception@waiukumedical.co.nz.

Please remember if you have a medical emergency, call 111, and for general advice you can call HealthLine on 0800 611116.

Thank you for your patience.

Working to Reduce Barriers to Health Care for a Healthy 2024 for Everyone

Kia Ora Whanau!

We know it can be difficult making time for your health, scheduling and paying for consultations and getting to and from the Medical Centre or Hospital. So… we aim to see everyone with urgent needs on the day through our Triage services and for after-hours have partnered with KA ORA Telehealth who provide virtual GP consults between 5pm and 8am on Weekdays and from 1pm Saturday through to 8am Monday – CALL 08002KAORA.

We never want affordability to prevent you getting the care you need. If this is an issue for you, please ask to speak to Sarah or Rosalie and we will work something out. One option is to set up an automatic payment for you to spread the cost, admin staff can help with this. We may also be able to help with fuel costs and can put you in touch with patient transport services. Remember, many screening and immunisation services are free, community service card holders have reduced fees, and you may be eligible for a High User Health Card … talk to us.

You can telephone, or pop into our Nurse Clinic at the Hamilton Estate Hall, Tuesdays 10 am to 1pm. There you can also get free treatment for minor ailments and, by arrangement, immunisations, cervical screening and basic health checks.
Noho ora mai! Happy New Year!