As a patient at our medical centre, you will be registered with a specific practitioner, either a General Practitioner or a Nurse Practitioner.
While we do not require that you only see your registered practitioner, if you have long-term medical conditions then we strongly encourage you to see the same GP for any appointments related to those conditions. Developing a relationship with your GP/NP will ensure that they have a deeper understanding of your health and means that your appointments are more cost effective.
Your registered practitioner will also receive copies of any letters, results, or updates from other health organisations, so that they are aware of the circumstances of your health.
We offer in-person appointments, as well as phone and video appointments as a time-efficient option for consultations which don’t require a physical examination.
Our appointments are scheduled for an average time of 15 minutes, with the actual time available dependant on the needs of the patients on the day.
It is important that you prioritise your most critical issue at the start of an appointment. While your practitioner will try to assist as much as possible, they may not be able to complete everything required. If so, they practitioner will need to end the consultation and you will need to book another appointment at another time to discuss any additional items. It is important that our practitioners protect the time necessary to complete the various aspects of their role.
We understand that this can be disappointing. To avoid this, if you have several items to discuss then you are welcome to book double consultations to have more time for discussion with your GP/NP. These will attract an additional charge, equivalent to booking two separate consultations.
While our fees are controlled by the government, we understand that the costs of seeing your practitioner can be a barrier to accessing care. If this is a concern for you then please do contact us as we are sometimes able to access funding to assist.
When we're closed you have two options for receiving urgent medical care.
The Wellington Accident and Urgent Medical Centre in Mt Cook provides after hours medical care in a primary care setting, and includes a fracture clinic for ongoing care and follow up for broken bones.
You can also go the Emergency Department at Wellington Hospital, where your urgency will be assessed and you will be prioritised based on severity rather than arrival time.
Wellington Accident and Urgent Medical Centre
Opening Hours: 8.00am - 9.00pm.
Appointments not required.
Consultations are not subsidised.
Wellington Hospital Emergency Department
Opening Hours: 24 hours a day - 7 days a week.
Appointments not required.
We welcome all feedback from our patients and their whānau.
If you feel that an experience with us hasn't gone well, we appreciate the opportunity to put this right where possible and to improve the way that we work.
If you have a concern, we encourage you to raise this initially with the person involved directly and/or their manager. This is normally the quickest way to resolve an issue, as they will be familiar with the situation.
You can find out more detailed information about our complaints process at Complaints.
If you would like to make a complaint, please do so by going to our Contact Us page and completing the form while selecting Feedback/Complaint.
Click on a section to find related questions and answers
Primary Health Organisations (PHO) are the local structures for delivering and co-ordinating primary health care services. PHOs work to bring together doctors,nurses and other health professionals (such as Maori health workers, healthpromoters, dieticians, pharmacists, physiotherapists, mental health workers andmidwives) in the community to serve the needs of their enrolled populations.PHOs receive a set amount of funding from the government to ensure theprovision of a range of health services, including visits to the doctor.
Enrolment is the process of confirming that you are eligible to access public funding for primary health care in New Zealand.
When you enrol, you are enrolling with a Primary Health Organisation who manage the distribution of primary care funding. By enrolling through us, we are allocated funds which enable us to provide you with discounted costs and access to other PHO funded services.
Our PHO is Compass Health.
Enrolling gives you access to public health funding, so the primary reason is that it will be cheaper to come and see us.
Enrolling also means that you are part of the wider Compass Health network, which will give you direct access to a wide range of services that Compass Health and its partners provide.
Enrolment is voluntary. If you choose not to enrol you will still be able to visit any of our Doctors but will have to pay the full non-subsidised fee
No, you don't have to enrol in order to see us about your health. If you don't or can't enrol then you're considered a 'casual' patient and you'll need to pay the full cost of your consultation. If you need to see us because you've had an accident which will be covered by ACC then the amount you need to pay will be lower.
In order to enrol through us you need to meet the Ministry of Health's eligibility requirements. If you're not sure if you're eligible, get in touch with us and we can help.
Even if you are not eligible for funding you are still more than welcome to register with us. You will still receive the same high quality of care from our team; however you will be charged for any services we complete on your behalf, including paperwork and screening which may not be related to an appointment. If your status changes and you become eligible to enrol, please contact us and we will update your enrolment status.
You can see our standard fees on our Fees page.
Our charges vary for other services, such as casual consultations, ACC visits, extended consults, minor surgery, prescriptions and practice nurse visits.
We will work with you to identify the funding assistance available in your specific situation.
In most cases we ask that you pay for your consultation at the time of your visit. In some cases we may provide services on account by arrangement with one of our receptionists.
We do charge administration fees for unpaid accounts, and unpaid accounts are referred to external debt collection at your cost.
We will always do our best to communicate with you before this happens.
We accept cash, cheques, EFTPOS and major credit cards (excluding American Express and Diners Club).
If you have an account you can also pay us by direct credit:
Thorndon Medical Centre
06-0541-0123337-25
The Code of Rights establishes the rights of consumers, and the obligations and duties of providers to comply with the Code. It is a regulation under the Health and Disability Commissioner Act.
You can access the code of rights via the Health & Disability Commissioner website
If you have any concerns regarding your rights under the Code of Rights then please contact us using our secure enquiry form and we'll be happy to dicuss this with you.
If you have a query, call us or fill out the form adjacent and we'll be in touch. Please note we do not take appointment requests by email.
If your enquiry is urgent, or for an appointment, please contact us by phone.
