In October 2023 we introduced nurse telehealth fees for the first time, following a long history of having a nurse available for 8 hours per day to take and return calls and provide clinical advice free of charge.  

However, we soon found that our initial policy for when fees would apply to nurse calls was too ambiguous both for nurses and for patients, making it difficult to be consistent in charging.

It is still not sustainable for us to continue providing free nurse telehealth - especially now, with the difficulties general practices are currently facing across the country in the form of workforce shortages, lack of funding, and increasing costs. For this reason we have made changes to our policy on nurse telehealth fees. 

Charges for nurse telehealth services will be happening consistently under our new policy from Mon 06 May 2024. 

Applying a fee to nurse calls also acknowledges the clinical skill and work of our nurses. 

See below for information on when nurse telehealth fees will and won't apply, a simple summary, and information on where to seek health information without the fees. 

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If you initiate contact with our phone nurse for advice: a minimum fee of $15.00 will apply.

This fee may be higher for longer or more in-depth phone advice. The maximum fee is $44.50 - i.e. the cost of a standard nurse appointment. 

Initiating contact with the phone nurse may be in the form of calling the nurse line directly, leaving a message requesting a call back on the nurse line, or reception adding you to the nurse’s call-back list (with your permission).

Some common enquiries the nurses get are for:

• Help interpreting blood test results
  (NB: we will always contact you if there is anything of concern in your results; if your GP has advised your results are fine, but you would still like our nurse's help interpreting them, a fee will apply)

• Advice on immunisations

• Health advice

• Advice on managing cold/flu symptoms 

These are just some examples of the kind of things the phone nurse will now be charging for.

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If a nurse initiates contact with you to relay a message from your doctor: a fee will not apply.*

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If a nurse needs to triage your cold-/flu-like symptoms: a fee will not apply.*

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 *If a nurse calls you for these reasons but you then request advice or information beyond what the nurse has called you about, a fee may apply. The nurse will advise you if further discussion with you will involve a fee.

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IN SUMMARY

You’re requesting advice from a nurse? A fee will apply.

A nurse is contacting you to triage your symptoms or relay message/s from your doctor? A fee will not apply.

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Need health advice without the fees? 

There are a lot of free resources available to you. Depending on your query, try out some of the options below: 

• Check out our Self-Help page for downloadable resources, useful websites, and FAQs

• Visit Healthify, a Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners-endorsed website full of information on health and health conditions, medications, blood tests, health-related apps, and more

• Call Healthline on 0800 611 116, the Disability Healthline on 0800 11 12 13, or the Vaccination Healthline on 0800 28 29 26 - all free!