Your GP's surgery is far more than a place to go when you are feeling unwell and needing a quick cure. The doctor who sees you has gone through an extensive medical training to equip her or him to help children and adults of all ages with a range of physical and emotional difficulties. GPs are at the centre of the healthcare hub and will be aware of services and expertise that are available locally and further-a-field. GPs are also aware of the link that stress and unhappy life events have on physical health so know when to suggest a talking therapy rather than medication.

• Video consultations
• Phone consultations
• Telehealth consultations for enrolled patients only

A virtual consultation is a way of having an appointment with your healthcare provider, but not in person. This is usually done via a video app or a phone call. For more detailed information about telehealth consultations, please see the guide from Healthify.

Video or Phone Consultations can still be booked through reception.  This can allow non-contact consultations and assessments of what further measures may be required but is best suited to purely administrative functions and assessments where talking and advice make up the bulk of need. 

Primary care practices offer a range of services and are able to deal with most minor accident care. If they are not able to deal with an injury they will refer on to the appropriate service.

Minor surgery is commonly provided in primary care practices, providing fast, competent removal and biopsies of skin lesions. Other services include cosmetic work such as removal of benign moles and skin tags. Ingrown toenail surgery is also commonly provided. 
These conditions do not need to be referred to a hospital, perhaps saving you a long wait or a cancelled appointment when a more serious case takes priority.

We generally operate Tues and Thurs mornings.  The doctor must have viewed the lesion prior so that appropriate treatment can be planned.  You will generally be in the surgery for 1 hour and return the following day for a wound check.  Sutures are removed usually at 7 and or 10 days.

• Pregnancy vaccinations
• Childhood immunisation programme
• 45 year old vaccinations
• 65 year old vaccinations
• Adult flu vaccine
• Child flu vaccine
• Diphtheria / Tetanus / Pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine
• Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine
• Measles / Mumps / Rubella (MMR) vaccine
• Meningococcal vaccine
• Shingles vaccine
• Travel vaccinations
• Catch-up missed vaccinations
• Privately funded vaccinations

Immunisation is the safest and most effective way to provide protection for you and your tamariki’s health. For more information view the NZ immunisation schedule.

We can provide vaccinations for children under our care.  We cannot provide care for patients who are being vaccinated by other clinical (doctors) and non-clinical (pharmacists) staff as they will be responsible for monitoring and outcome of their treatments.

Liquid nitrogen is a fast, effective treatment provided in many practices to treat viral warts, sun damaged skin, skin tags and many benign cosmetic lesions. It comes in a container with a nozzle and is usually applied by swab or spray. Often one treatment is all that is needed but sometimes it may need repeating after two weeks.
Because it cannot be stored for too long, you will often find that your GP will treat a number of patients one after the other. 

For more information click here.

We have liquid nitrogen available usually at all times. We use a CryAc gun for fast and safe delivery of liquid nitrogen. 

All women and people with a cervix aged 25 – 69 who have ever had intimate skin-to-skin contact or been sexually active should have regular cervical screening. This includes women who have been immunised against HPV. Together, regular screening and HPV immunisation provide the best protection against cervical cancer.

There are now more options for how you have cervical screening done:

• a simple vaginal swab test for HPV, either done yourself or with help from a healthcare professional
• a cervical sample taken by a healthcare professional (used to be known as a smear test).

Talk with your healthcare provider to decide which option is best for you.

If HPV is found, you may need to have a follow-up test or be referred directly for colposcopy.

If you’ve not yet had HPV testing, you should be screened 3 years after your last test (or 1 year if immune deficient). Once you have had an HPV test, and providing HPV is not found, your next screening will be in 5 years (or 3 years if immune deficient).

For more information: Cervical screening | Time to Screen - National Screening Unit

These are available from the doctor and some of our nurses if you prefer. 

Another service offered to you at your GP surgery (primary care practice) is advice and immunisation before you go to another country. While you are likely to have the immunisations needed to live in New Zealand, there may be other injections you need to protect yourself before going for example to Africa or South America. In some places you will need protection from rabies or malaria. Yellow fever vaccinations are only available at approved centres; please click here to view the centres in New Zealand. Your doctor will be able to tell you what diseases you will need to be protected from in any named country and advise you on other medical matters. 

Please contact us early as we may have to order your vaccine and some are better given some time before you travel.  A form is available to fill out so we know where you are going, for how long and the types of risk that may be involved.  While your trip is probably expensive, appropriate vaccination and precautions provide reassurance and protection in different environments and are generally worth the added cost.  Some vaccines afford long term protection for future travel. 

An ECG is a recording of your heart's electrical activity. Electrode patches are attached to your skin to measure the electrical impulses given off by your heart. The result is a trace that can be read by a doctor. It can give information of previous heart attacks or problems with the heart rhythm.

Spirometry is a tool that measures how effectively your lungs are working. It is able to show how much air lungs are able to hold (their volume) and how much air can be breathed in and out (inhaled and exhaled) which is called flow. This tool is used to assess damage caused by conditions like COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – a group that includes bronchitis and emphysema), pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis and asthma. Results are shown on a graph called a pneumotachograph.

For more information click on the following link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirometry

A patient portal is a secure online tool provided by GP practices that can allow convenient access to your health information as well as interaction with the practice e.g. booking appointments and requesting repeat prescriptions.

Please enquire and register for this service at the practice.  At present it is possible to book appointments on line and review your recent results by using this free service.  Keeping your information safe is important to us and so you will need to have an individual email account for login to this service.  Once you have accessed information it is your responsibility to keep it safe so do not share your login details with anyone who could breach your privacy.

The tag for arranged video consultations is https://doxy.me/drphunter. These can be booked at reception. 

Each GP surgery or primary care practice will have its own procedure for repeat prescribing but the following rules are common to most, if not all. Patients who are well-known to the practice who have a stable condition like asthma, hypertension or diabetes could be allowed to get a repeat prescription for up to six months. Repeat prescriptions are never given to patients who are not known to the practice and there is probably a blanket ban on repeats for narcotics and other drugs that could be misused as doctors are expected to monitor these drugs carefully.

Prescriptions may be available via the portal or by contacting the nurse. These will only be given where there is not a need for medical monitoring of a condition.  Regular patient contact is required for all prescribing to check that the medicine is still appropriate and working well without problems. 

Please ring at least 24hr prior to the prescription being needed. If you are unsure whether we will give a repeat then earlier notification will allow an appointment to be booked if appropriate. We can  email prescriptions to pharmacies if required. We can apply for special authorities on line and this will attract additional charges. 

Sometimes your doctor needs to take a sample of blood or urine either to discover what is wrong with you or to measure something in your blood so that the right medication is given to you. These tests could be anything from blood sugar to a full blood count or a sample of tissue to test for cancer.

While urine can generally be tested in the surgery, blood and other specimens are usually sent away for testing at a laboratory. Most results come back within 48 hours unless a very rare test is needed which has to go to a specialist lab further away when it might take a little longer.

While we will try always to inform you of important abnormal results it is important for you to check your results with the surgery.  This is usually 1-2 days for most laboratory testing but may be up to a fortnight for cervical smears and for tissue sample results (histology).  We will generally not inform you of normal results unless this has been agreed and minor abnormalities that do not affect you are just noted by the doctor on the result and can be discussed if you have any questions around them.

X-ray and special tests arranged through the hospital take varying amounts of time. Please let us know if you have not heard from a service in a reasonable time nor had the result from some investigation.  We do not have control over this but are happy to check on difficulties in this area as they arise. 

Registration on our portal will allow access to your recent results.  This can be arranged at the surgery.

Electronic lab referrals are now available so your requested tests will be available at any laboratory collection centre.

In general good communication including your feedback and cooperation in arranging requested tests will help us do our job and care for your health.  Please keep your contact details up to date so we can contact you by phone, text or email. 

Please do not request frequent or unnecessary tests from the doctor.  Each test has its own advantages and disadvantages and rarely is there one investigation that can provide all the answers.  Your doctor has been trained in the use and interpretation of tests.  Google or your neighbours advice are rarely useful in determining your needs.