FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

In late 2023 we introduced fees for requested nurse calls for the first time. Prior to this, we had a nurse available to take and return patient calls 8 hours a day/5 days a week at no charge. 

We had this arrangement in place for many years, and we know our patients greatly appreciated this service. But the reasons for needing to introduce fees for requested nurse calls include: 

•  The ever-increasing costs of running a GP clinic mean that providing nurse phone calls for free is no longer sustainable for us 

• GP clinics are chronically under-funded in Aotearoa NZ 

• Demand for nurse calls has been increasing more and more in recent years 

• Complexity of queries to nurses has been increasing 

• Our nurses are exercising their clinical knowledge and skills in responding to patient queries, and a fee acknowledges their mahi 

• Many queries to our phone nurses involve more time and work than just the time spent on the phone - e.g. liaising with GPs, making enquiries, writing up notes, sending lab orders, following up with patients, on so on 

There are also many instances where one of our nurses will initiate a call with you to pass on a message from your doctor or to triage your cold/flu symptoms; these calls will not involve a fee unless you then ask the nurse for advice or information beyond what they have contacted you about. 

We realise this is a big change from how we have previously run our nurse telehealth service, and we appreciate your understanding.

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! 

The primary reason: location. The Government provides various amounts of funding to GP practices depending on the demographics of the area in which that practice is located. 

Because we are located in the CBD, the Government funding we receive is unfortunately affected by the assumed demographics of the patients we see. 

In reality, our patients come from all over the Wellington region and beyond, and from all sorts of different socioeconomic backgrounds. 

Additionally, CBD location = higher rent.

The fee you pay as an enrolled patient for a 15-minute GP appointment is the cost of that appointment (currently $125.00) minus the subsidy paid by the Government, the exact amount of which will vary depending on your age bracket. This is what brings it down to the funded rate that you pay for your appointments. 

However, the Government only provides this subsidy for one standard GP appointment per patient per day. This means that we receive no funding for the second half of your double-appointment. 

The fee for a double-appointment is therefore the cost of one funded 15 minute appointment + the cost of one non-funded 15 minute appointment. 

A virtual appointment is booked in the same way and for the same amount of time as a standard in-person appointment – i.e. 15 minutes. Your doctor will still assess you, read previous relevant clinical notes, provide clinical advice, write up notes after your 

appointment, potentially provide prescriptions and/or medical certificates, potentially review test results, etc., just as they would for an in-person appointment. 

We only receive funding for your CSC for standard 15-minute GP appointments. Unfortunately, we are unable to claim funding to subsidise your nurse appointments, repeat prescriptions, or other services. 

We have over 300 patients with a CSC, so we are unable to provide services at a reduced fee without Government funding to supplement it. 

ACC subsidises GP services but it doesn’t fully cover them. Some other healthcare services are fully covered by ACC while others, like GP services, are only partially covered. 

The benefit of paying for your ACC visit with your doctor is that this enables you to access further care from specialists with ACC cover. 

You can read more about ACC’s payments for various types of treatments and services here >.

As an enrolled patient your appointment will usually be subsidised by one of two funding streams: Government funding or ACC funding. If an ACC claim has been made for your appointment, then the Government funding does not apply. 

ACC only contributes a limited amount towards your appointment fee. What you end up paying is our non-funded appointment fee minus the funding ACC has provided. Because ACC provides slightly less funding per appointment than the Government, your appointment fee ends up being slightly higher than usual. 

The Ministry of Health provides the Zero Fees for Under 14s Scheme, which enables us to provide standard 15-minute GP appointments to all of our enrolled patients aged 13 years and under free of charge. 

However, the funding we receive under the Zero Fees for Under 14s Scheme applies to standard GP appointments only. 

We don’t receive any funding for other services we provide to your child; this is why the standard fee applies for other services. 

Most radiology services (i.e. the people who provide x-rays and ultrasounds) are not fully funded in Wellington unless you go through the Emergency Department. 

Even if you’re requiring an x-ray or ultrasound because of an accident or a concerning symptom, available funding generally only covers part of the cost so there will still be a fee for you. 

You can speak with your doctor about whether your radiology appointment is likely to be partially-funded or not, or call the reception of the radiology provider you’re seeing to get more information on fees you should expect. Wellington radiology providers include Pacific Radiology, Wellington Horizon Radiology, Wellington Ultrasound, and Affinity Medical Imaging.