The Practice: We are a team of health professionals and support staff dedicated to providing a world class level of care to our community, who we feel lucky to serve.

Our team has come together from just down the road and from right across the world, with collective knowledge and experience to give our patients the best level of treatment possible.

First names only please! We are approachable and down to earth, and work hard to make sure you feel welcome and well looked after here. This often means that we go above and beyond what you’d expect.

In essence, we strive to be a practice that is patient focused at every level. We’re proud of this.

Our practice includes an amazing team of Doctors, Nurse Practitioners, Registered Nurses, Clinical Pharmacist, Health Care Assistants, Administrators, HIP & Health Coach.

Visit our teams page for a full overview of our team https://www.civichealth.co.nz/our-team

Doctors: Civic Family Health Care consists of partners Dr Rhondda Turner and Dr Emily Marfell. Associate

GPs are Dr Vicky Samuels, Dr Mandy Chadwick, Dr Alex Dunn, Dr Tomi Moore, Dr Anne Musters, Dr Kitty van Bekkum, Dr Ros Gellatly, Dr Tiffany Lee, Dr Matt Lewis, Dr Allie Madigan & Dr Ineke Nugteren.

We are a training practice and may sometimes have a first year GP registrar, medical student or house officer doctors working with us.

Administration: The administration team members have the knowledge to assist you to make the most appropriate appointment with a clinician and will welcome you to our practice with a smile. We want to provide you and your family with the best possible service and health outcome.

Nursing: Our nurse team run clinics for immunisations, health checks, spirometry, ear suctioning, minor procedures and more. They will help you make appropriate appointments via our triage system and call you with advice and reminders as well as assisting our GP’s.

Health Care Assistants: This position forms an integral part of our clinical team helping GP’s and nurses with processes and procedures for your care.

Together, the clinical team (Doctors, Nurses, and HCAs) provide a range of health services.

Opening Hours: Civic Health operates from 8am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday. Our phone switches to an afterhours service at 5pm. We are closed on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.

Disabled Facilities: Our facility is fully accessible including bathroom facilities. If you require any help, please ask one of our team and we will be happy to assist.

Civic Pharmacy: Situated within the same building, Civic Pharmacy is a separate business from the practice. Practice patients are not obliged to use the pharmacy, although some find it convenient.

Communication: You can contact us by phone on 03 578 0199. You will be directed by an answering machine to (1) Reception or (2) Prescription line. Despite having eight incoming lines, our phones can be very busy! If it is an emergency, please hang up and dial 111 otherwise please be patient, we will answer your call as soon as we can.

If you are requiring a same day appointment, you will be asked to leave your name and number with some simple details of what the appointment is for. We will get a triage nurse to call you back and make the best plan for you. Please be aware that we will do our best to get back to you as soon as possible but some days the list is very long and it takes time.

If you have a cell phone, we can send your test results to you via a text message. Please do not reply to a text message unless it specifically asks you to.

We do not accept prescription or appointment requests via text message.

Civic Family Health Care provides a patient portal – MyIndici, whereby patients may book appointments online, have access to notes and results, request a repeat prescription and email their GP with a simple query. Please ask about this and reception can help set you up.

Parking: There are limited free parking spaces available around the building for patients and a larger public car park on the Woolworths corner.

Test Results: If you are having some investigations such as blood tests, x-rays, biopsies etc. you will be told when the results are to be expected. You will not be contacted for normal results but if it is anything else, one of our team will be in contact. You may phone the Nurse to receive your results if you wish.

Lab: We do not provide a blood taking (phlebotomy) service on site. Patients are required to book an appointment with Awanui Labs on Maxwell road or Awanui Labs at the hospital. The contact phone number is 0800 633 522. The lab at 9 Maxwell Road, is only a 5-minute walk and is open 7.30am to 12.30pm. Alternatively the hospital lab is open from 8am to 5pm daily. Lab forms are now done electronically.

Payments: Please be aware that in accordance with our Terms of Trade, we expect payment of all accounts on the day. Any debts or late payments will incur an overdue fee and unpaid accounts will be sent to debt collection.

Feedback: We would like to hear your suggestions and welcome your feedback about our service. Tell us if there is anything we can improve on or are missing. We also like to hear where you think we have done well or helped in any way. Your feedback is shared with the team and helps to plan future quality improvement for the practice.

Chaperone: A chaperone is available to be present during all examinations if you wish. Please just ask one of our admin team or let your Doctor/Nurse know at the start of your appointment.

Complaints: If you feel you have not received fair and appropriate treatment, please tell us. Every member of staff can provide advice and assistance as to the correct procedure to file a complaint. Further information regarding complaints and your rights as a patient is available at reception to take away.

Practice Policies: It is essential in a busy general practice such as Civic Family Health Care to have procedures and policies in place. This helps to provide a consistent service that meets Medico-legal and Health & Safety requirements. This includes but is not limited to policies such as medication (requesting repeat prescriptions) and travel (health advice and vaccinations).

Emergency Procedures: There is the potential for an emergency situation at any time. This can include medical emergencies, fire, earthquake, or a violent incident. We have procedures in place to deal safely and effectively with emergency situations. Fire evacuation drills are also part of essential training for all staff. If you are involved in an “emergency event or drill” while visiting the practice, please try to keep calm and follow the direction of staff.

Consultations: You have a choice about the type of appointment you have with your doctor with both virtual or face to face consultations available.

Virtual: Consultations can include phone or video. A video consultation can be arranged where you can still see and talk to your doctor, but you do not have to be in the practice. The video consultation is very secure. You will be sent an invite to the consultation and it will be only yourself and any support person/s you want and the doctor. A phone consult is a phone call from your doctor to you at a specific consultation time to discuss your requirements (please be aware as it can be in practice these appointments may not run exactly to time although we will endeavour to keep them as on track as possible).

Face to Face: These consultations are available and may be more suitable for your health needs. You may be asked screening questions prior to entering our practice to keep yourself and others safe. We adhere to strict cleaning and infection controls to ensure the safety of everyone visiting us.

Both GP and Nurse appointment times are set at 15-minutes. You are welcome to request a double appointment for a longer consultation, but this will incur a double charge. If you have more than one or two issues to discuss with the doctor, please ask for a longer appointment time. Please be mindful not to bring a “list” of complaints as there will not always be time in a 15-minute appointment to address them safely and appropriately.

Urgent – On the day appointments: We retain slots for urgent appointments including a respiratory clinic most afternoons. These appointments are available after a discussion with a triage nurse to assess the most urgent requirements and make a plan. The respiratory clinic operates outside of the practice in the foyer clinic room to help keep respiratory bugs away from our vulnerable patients. Respiratory patients will be asked to wait in their vehicles or in the foyer for the doctor. We do our best to help as many people as possible but some days there are more in need than we have appointments, and you may be referred to Urgent Care or Practice Plus for help.

Medication: As Health providers, it is our responsibility to keep you safe and well informed. The Medical Council of New Zealand offers guidance for medical practitioners on good prescribing and practice. Our practice policy aims to protect both staff and patients, ensuring that all medication is prescribed safely, on the basis of sound clinical assessment and in the best interests of you, the patient.

Repeat Prescriptions: You may request a repeat prescription by phone, the script line (answerphone service), written request using forms available at reception or using MyIndici (patient portal app for regular medication only). Your details will need to be clear and include your name, address and contact details, the pharmacy you want the script to go to and the medication you require (medication name and dosage). If your request is unclear and we can not contact you for clarification, your script will not be issued.

You must have attended a GP review in relation to your medication within the last 12 months in order to receive a repeat prescription of that medication. Appointments for unrelated issues such as ACC, do not suffice as a medication review.

If you are away and need a supply of your medication, we may be able to send a script to an alternative pharmacy for collection depending on the medication(s) and the circumstances.

New Medication: No new medication will be prescribed without a GP review, unless it was initially prescribed by a specialist, at Urgent Care or on discharge from hospital and this can be verified in your records.

Antibiotics: Antibiotics will not be prescribed without a GP consultation.

Turnaround Time: We aim to have your prescription available for collection at your pharmacy within 3 working days. This is sent electronically to the pharmacy and can not be sent to a personal or business email.

If you require an urgent script, please make this known. As long as requests are received by 2pm, the script should be available for collection from your pharmacy later that day. There is an additional cost for an urgent script.

If your doctor is away, requests for controlled drugs or complicated scripts may not be able to be completed by the duty or relieving GP. You may be required to come in for an appointment to have this medication prescribed and this will be charged as a normal consult fee.

Prescription Charges: If you attend your GP for a review or consultation and you are prescribed medication, there is no extra charge. This is included in the consultation fee. However, if you request a prescription and you do not require an appointment, the charge is $30 for a standard script ($20 for Community Service Card holders) and $35 for an urgent script. You can also order your script online, via the MyIndici portal, for a slightly lower charge of $25.

We encourage you to be pro-active about ordering your medications. Running out/short of medication is not considered a medical emergency and although we will do our best to sort this, it may not be able to be done in an urgent timeframe. If our books are open, we encourage you to book your next review when you leave your current appointment as our GP’s tend to book out well in advance. Medication reviews can also be booked with our Clinical Pharmacist or Nurse Practitioner rather than your GP. They are often easier to get in to and this can be sorted within a short timeframe.

Accessing Care Out of Hours: Our website contains comprehensive information regarding accessing care after hours. https://www.civichealth.co.nz/afterhours-care-information

Urgent Care: based at Wairau Hospital, Gate 2, off Hospital Road and provides after hours and urgent GP care. Patients can access this service from 8am to 8pm seven days a week including public holidays, no appointment necessary. Telephone 03 520 6377.

Practice Plus: a virtual service that is manned by GP’s who can help when we are full. It may save you a wait up at the Urgent Care. They are available weekdays until 10pm and weekends and public holidays 8am-8pm. Go to their website at www.practiceplus.nz for more information or call 0800 7722 7587.

Healthline: 0800 611 116 is New Zealand’s national telephone triage and health service. It is staffed by experienced registered nurses who provide health information and recommend appropriate care for callers. It is free to call Healthline from a landline or cell phone.

Wairau Hospital Emergency Department: provides emergency care 24 hours/day, 7 days/week. Wairau Hospital is situated via Gate 2, 30 Hospital Road, Witherlea, Blenheim. Telephone 03 520 9999.

Conduct: As health professionals and providers of a health service we demand that all Civic Family Health Care staff will be respectful, kind, trustworthy and professional at all times. In return, we expect the same honesty, courtesy, and respectful behaviour from our patients. We want your experience to be a positive one, within a supportive and caring environment so that you can focus on being healthy and well.

If you are unable to attend a scheduled appointment or are running late, please phone to let us know as soon as possible so that we can reschedule your appointment. We reserve the right to charge for appointments that you fail to attend without sufficient notification. We have a policy regarding this.

Please note that we do not allow the filming of procedures in this Practice, and we would appreciate if you could please turn off your mobile phone before going into the consulting room. Sometimes your GP will need to photograph a skin lesion in order to provide a point of reference for comparison at a later date, or to accompany a referral. You will be asked for our consent and the photograph will be loaded into your medical records on the computer and/or sent via a secure health site to the specialist service you are being referred to.

Civic Family Health Care, known as “the Practice”, agrees to provide medical services to “the patient”, under the terms of this agreement.

1. The Practice is to provide routine medical services, in a timely manner, during usual practice business hours, to the best of their abilities.

2. The Patient will comply with reasonable requests regarding behaviour within the practice. The Patient agrees to treat staff at the Practice in a respectful manner. Any abusive language or aggressive/intimidating behaviour will not be tolerated.

3. When choosing to enrol with the Practice, either as a new patient or a transfer from an existing practice, the Patient may be required to attend an initial New Patient Appointment. This will be decided by the doctor who the Patient will be enrolling with based on previous medical history, medications and any notes the Practice receives from previous practices.

This is a non-negotiable appointment and allows us to meet with the Patient and review any current medications or conditions to ensure the Patient is receiving the correct care and advice.

There will be a cost for this appointment and this will depend on the duration of the appointment required.

If the Patient does not attend this appointment, a charge may be applied to their account for the missed appointment and the Patient will still require a new patient appointment before being able to have any other regular appointments including for medication repeats and reviews, ACC or Off Work Certificates.

4. The Patient will respect the process in regards to payment of fees for services provided. The Practice’s standard consultation fees are displayed in the Practice waiting area information folders, on the website www.civichealth.co.nz and are available on request. The fees take into account the following

factors:

• Time spent in consultation

• Complexity of the condition

• The costs of running a medical practice

• Whether the Patient is entitled to funding available from the Government, public agencies or other sources.

The Practice require payment of fees at the time of consultation or when the services are provided. Prior to a new patient appointment and, in circumstances where a debt is already incurred, payment may be requested prior to consultation. The Practice bank account details are on the invoice and the Patient can organise automatic payments (AP) with their bank.

If payment is not made on the day, the Patient will be invoiced and sent a reminder to pay. Any outstanding invoices will incur a $10 admin fee if not paid by the end of the month. The account will be sent to a debt collection agency if not fully paid within 90 days (unless an AP is in place) and the Patient will incur additional charges from the agency. The Practice will also charge the Patient the cost of recovery of outstanding fees and interest, including any legal costs.

By enrolling at Civic Family Health Care, the Patient authorises the Practice to:

• Disclose any information about the Patient for the purpose of instructing other persons including a debt collecting agency to recover any outstanding fees

The Patient acknowledges that:

• All services may attract a fee

• The Patient remains liable for all fees, costs and disbursements (including laboratory testing where the Patient is not eligible for funded services in New Zealand) charged by the Practice for the services.

5. If the Patient wishes to cancel an appointment, a minimum of two business hours’ notice is required. Failure to attend, or failure to give the correct notice may incur a fee based on the type of appointment booked.

Failure to meet the Terms of Trade as outlined above, may result in a breakdown of relationship between the Practice and the Patient and could result in the withdrawal of services provided by the Practice.

General practice provides comprehensive primary, community-based, and continuing patient-centred health care to patients enrolled with them and others who consult. General practice services include the diagnosis, management and treatment of health conditions, continuity of health care throughout the lifespan, health promotion, prevention, screening, and referral to hospital and specialists.

Most general practice providers are affiliated to a PHO. The fund-holding role of PHOs allows an extended range of services to be provided across the collective of providers within a PHO.

What is a PHO?

Primary Health Organisations are the local structures for delivering and co-ordinating primary health care services. PHOs bring together doctors, nurses and other health professionals (such as Maori health workers, health promoters, dietitians, pharmacists, physiotherapists, mental health workers and midwives) in the community to serve the needs of their enrolled populations.

PHO’s receive a set amount of funding from the government to ensure the provision of a range of health services, including visits to the doctor. Funding is based on the people enrolled with the PHO and their characteristics (e.g. age, gender, and ethnicity). Funding also pays for services that help people stay healthy and services that reach out to groups in the community who are missing out on health services or who have poor health.

Benefits of Enrolling

Enrolling is free and voluntary. If you choose not to enrol you can still receive health services from a chosen GP / general practice / provider of First Level primary health care services. Advantages of enrolling are that your visits to the doctor will be cheaper and you will have direct access to a range of services linked to the PHO.

How do I enrol?

To enrol, you need to complete an Enrolment Form at the general practice of your choice. Parents can enrol children under 16 years of age, but children over 16 years need to sign their own form.

What happens if I go to another General Practice?

You can go to another general practice or change to a new general practice at any time. If you are enrolled in a PHO through one general practice and visit another practice as a casual patient you will pay a higher fee for that visit. So if you have more than one general practice you should consider enrolling with the practice you visit most often.

What happens if the general practice changes to a new PHO?

If the general practice changes to a new PHO the practice will make this information available to you.

What happens if I am enrolled in a general practice but don’t see them very often?

If you have not received services from your general practice in a 3 year period it is likely that the practice will contact you and ask if you wish to remain with the practice. If you are not able to be contacted or do not respond your name will be taken off the Practice and PHO Enrolment Registers. You can re-enrol with the same general practice or another general practice and the affiliated PHO at a later time.

How do I know if I’m eligible for publicly funded health and disability services?

Talk to the practice staff, call 0800 855 151, or visit Eligibility for publicly funded health services – Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora and work through the Guide to Eligibility Criteria.

Access to my health information

I have the right to access (and have corrected) my health information under Rules 6 and 7 of the Health Information Privacy Code 1994.

Visiting another GP

If I visit another GP who is not my regular doctor I will be asked for permission to share information from the visit with my regular doctor or practice. If I have a High User Health Card or Community Services Card and I visit another GP who is not my regular doctor, he/she can make a claim for a subsidy, and the practice I am enrolled in will be informed of the date of that visit. The name of the practice I visited and the reason(s) for the visit will not be disclosed unless I give my consent.

Patient Enrolment Information

The information I have provided on the Practice Enrolment Form will be:

• held by the practice

• used by the Ministry of Health to give me a National Health Index (NHI) number, or update any changes

• sent to the PHO and Ministry of Health to obtain subsidised funding on my behalf

• used to determine eligibility to receive publicly-funded services. Information may be compared with other government agencies but only when permitted under the Privacy Act.

Health Information

Members of my health team may share relevant health information with other health professionals and organisations directly involved in my care. This health information may be securely transferred electronically. If I wish to have more information about electronic referrals I can contact KHW Marlborough Primary Health Organisation at erms@marlboroughpho.org.nz

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

This practice may have staff that use AI tools to assist in providing healthcare services. All AI-assisted work is reviewed with human oversight to ensure accuracy and appropriateness. AI will not be used for clinical decision making or judgment. My health information will be used in accordance with legislative requirements and will not be shared with AI systems outside the practice without my consent. All data processed by AI tools will be handled securely and in compliance with data protection regulations. I will be informed about how AI tools are being used in my care and can ask questions or request more information at any time. I can also withdraw my consent at any point by notifying the practice.

Audit

In the case of financial audits, my health information may be reviewed by an auditor for checking a financial claim made by the practice, but only according to the terms and conditions of section 22G of the Health Act (or any subsequent applicable Act). I may be contacted by the auditor to check that services have been received. If the audit involves checking on health matters, an appropriately qualified health care practitioner will view the health records.

Health Programmes

Health data relevant to a programme in which I am enrolled (e.g. Breast Screening, Immunisation, Diabetes) may be sent to the PHO or the external health agency managing this programme.

Other Uses of Health Information

Health information which will not include my name but may include my National Health Index Identifier (NHI) may be used by legitimate health agencies such as the District Health Board, Ministry of Health or PHO for the following purposes, as long as it is not used or published in a way that can identify me:

• health service planning and reporting, monitoring service quality, payment

Research

My health information may be used for health research, but only if this has been approved by an Ethics Committee and will not be used or published in a way that can identify me. Except as listed above, I understand that details about my health status or the services I have received will remain confidential within the medical practice unless I give specific consent for this information to be communicated.

Additionally, please view below our Privacy Statement

OUR PRIVACY STATEMENT — CIVIC FAMILY HEALTH CARE