Adults and Child Medical Care

When you’re sick and it’s not an emergency, you should visit our GP Clinic. If you’re not already enrolled with one of our GPs, we can arrange this for you - it only takes a couple of minutes. Your medical record is maintained by the GP you’re enrolled with, so we can keep important health information in one place.

Minor Accident Care

Our GP Clinic is equipped to provide treatment and care for most minor accidents. If our doctors and nurses aren't able to help, they will refer you to the appropriate health service. It's a good idea to phone us first on (09) 636 3629. We'll let you know whether we can help with your injury.

Minor Surgery

Minor surgery services include removal and biopsies of skin lesions, ingrown toenail surgery, and removal of moles and skin tags. Using our GP Clinic for minor surgery can save you a long wait at a hospital.

Our experienced and well-trained GP surgeons also specialise in circumcision for cultural reasons, both dorsal slit and full circumcision, but not infant circumcision. These clinics usually take place in school holidays.

If you’re not sure whether you need to visit our GP Clinic or hospital, you can call us for advice.

Repeat Prescriptions

If you are enrolled with a GP at our clinic and have a stable condition like asthma, hypertension (high blood pressure) or diabetes, in between visits you can request a repeat prescription over the phone. You can also request a repeat prescription for any other medicine you receive through your GP, although sometimes the doctor may need to see you first. Repeat prescriptions are never given to patients who are not known to our GP Clinic.

Lab Results

Sometimes your GP 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 can be prescribed for 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; results for some rarer tests may take longer.

Blood tests for immigration, insurance or work can be collected on site at our clinics. Results are not routinely phoned through to patients, unless by special arrangement with the doctor at the time of ordering the test. You are welcome to phone in and ask about results.

Liquid Nitrogen

Liquid nitrogen is a fast, effective treatment for 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 liquid nitrogen cannot be stored for too long, your GP might treat a number of patients one after the other.

Immunisations

We aim to ensure every child who comes to our centre is fully immunised. Providing vaccinations is one of the most important things we do for long-term family health. Immunisation has led to the decline of many lethal diseases including, most recently, meningococcal B meningitis.

The National Immunisation Schedule offers a series of vaccines free to babies, children, adolescents and adults. Visit the Ministry of Health immunisation web page for information about recommended vaccinations.

Immunisations are recorded in each child’s Well Child/Tamariki Ora My Health Book. This record may need to be shown when starting school or early childcare. The staff will also record the immunisation details on New Zealand’s National Immunisation Register. This computerised information system holds details of all immunisations given to children here and will alert families when immunisations are due.

We also provide adult flu vaccinations and can assist with specialised vaccinations required for travel.

Cervical Smears

All women who have ever been sexually active should have a cervical smear test every three years between the ages of 20 and 70. This includes women who have been immunised against HPV.

A cervical smear test detects abnormal cells which, if left untreated, could become cervical cancer. Very often these cells are made abnormal by a human papillomavirus (HPV), which is a sexually transmitted virus. Regular tests and treatment reduces the likelihood of this sort of cancer by around 90%.

The National Screening Unit website has more information about cervical smear tests.

We have a monthly nurse-led smear clinic at Onehunga where screening smears are free. Screening smears performed during a doctor appointment are free for Maori and Pacific Island women, as well as some others living in certain areas.

ECG

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 report that can be analysed by a doctor. It can provide information of previous heart attacks or problems with the heart rhythm.

There is an extra charge of $15 if an ECG is performed during your appointment.

Spirometry

Spirometry is a tool that measures how effectively your lungs are working. It shows 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. You can read more about spirometry on the Asthma Foundation website.

Spirometry is performed as part of our Asthma Clinic, which is run by Asthma Nurse Ana Tatafu every Wednesday at the Onehunga site. This clinic is for education about asthma and maximising treatment. Once a month another nurse joins Ana to do just spirometry. If you need spirometry, your GP will make an appointment for you. You can also self-refer (book the appointment yourself).

Well Child/Tamariki Ora Health Checks – Birth to Three Years

All New Zealand children are entitled to 11 free health checks from birth to three years. These checks aim to ensure children are growing and developing as well as possible.

Baby checks are at birth and then at 24 hours, five days and around 2-4 weeks. Babies are weighed and measured to ensure that they are developing correctly. These sessions provide a great opportunity for parents to talk about problems – difficulties with breastfeeding or sleep, for example. Appointments can also be used to discuss immunisations and vaccinations. Checks are usually carried out by your lead maternity carer (LMC).

Between the ages of 4-6 weeks and three years, there are seven core health checks available, typically these are around 4-6 weeks, 8-10 weeks, 3-4 months, 5-7 months, 9-12 months, 15-18 months and 2-3 years. These checks may be carried out by a Well Child Provider of your choice, such as Plunket or our Langimalie Integrated Family Health Centres in Onehunga and Panmure.

More information about Well Child services is available on the Ministry of Health website.