About Cook Street Health Centre

Our Team Values

All members of our Cook Street Health Centre team aim to provide a warm, welcoming and compassionate service to patients, family/whānau who are enrolled with us.

We will endeavour to treat you with respect, dignity and independence, free from discrimination.

We will do our upmost to provide you with services of an appropriate standard and to communicate effectively with you. While we acknowledge that you may not be feeling your best when you interact with us, we do still expect that you will treat all our team as you would expect to be treated yourself.

We look forward to being part of your health journey, and we are pleased that you are part of the Cook Street Health Centre community.

Enrolment

Cook Street Health Centre is not currently taking on New Patients.

When you join Cook Street Health Centre, it is important that we review your health history and perform a complete health assessment so we can provide the best possible care for you. You will be invited to have an initial appointment with the GP or NP. This is a longer appointment.

We can request your notes from your previous practice with your permission and you will be asked to sign a form (for this) to release these.

The principle of enrolment is crucial to the government’s primary health care strategy. Ensuring that patients obtain their health care from one general practice will undoubtedly help make their care more efficient and effective. There is a lot of evidence that continuity of care results in better health.

Some of the key points about this system are:

Patients can only enrol with one general practice. If you choose to enrol with another practice, you are automatically no longer enrolled with the previous practice.
The fact that you are enrolled with one general practice does not restrict you from consulting another doctor somewhere else.
If you consult another doctor (practice) any government subsidy which applies for your consultation is deducted from your enrolled practice’s.

Every 3 years if you have not been seen by your GP or NP you will be asked to complete an enrolment form that indicates you want to be enrolled with this health centre and this enables your GP/NP to be able to subsidise your consultation fee.

It is important to understand the principles of enrolment. For patients who are enrolled with us, we ask that you try to obtain your health care from us, except after hours. The system encourages this partnership (and provides a financial penalty for us if you consult other practices). An information brochure is available which explains the details about enrolment: please ask at the desk if you wish to see this or read via this link.

Fees

All enrolled patients at Cook Street Health Centre understand and agree to the following terms and conditions for payment for medical services.

All fees for medical services are payable on the day that the service is provided, including phone consultations, portal requests and prescription requests.

Patients agree to pay all costs and any expenses incurred by Cook Street Health Centre in recovering any amounts overdue for payment.

To make it easier you can pay directly into our bank account.

These details are:
Cook Street Health Centre
Account number: 06 0729 0545347 25 please use your name & chart number for reference.

After Hours

The following are our recommendations if you require medical help outside of our opening hours:

Practice Plus offers you same day virtual GP appointments to suit you and your whānau. You can find them linked at the top of our website. https://practiceplus.nz/
City Doctors is our afterhours provider from 6PM – 8PM Monday to Friday, and 8AM – 8PM Saturday and Sunday. You can reach them on 063553300 or find them at 22 Victoria Avenue, Palmerston North.
For afterhours telephone triage advice, please call Healthline on 0800 611 116.
For health information, please visit the Healthify He Puna Wairoa website which you can find linked at the top of our website. https://healthify.nz/

Privacy

From time to time, as part of your clinical care, we may need to provide your details and medical history to other health providers, such as specialists and hospitals.

We will ensure that your health information is only seen by people who are involved in your health care (such as staff and specialists that we refer you to). We will always ask for your consent before transferring any identifiable medical information about you to someone who is not involved in your health care. We provide the PHO and the Ministry of Health with a list of our enrolled patients so that we can obtain subsidies on your behalf. This information includes your name, address, date of birth, ethnicity, and the dates when you see the doctor or nurse. No identifiable medical information is provided without your consent. In all cases, your privacy is protected by the medical ethics of confidentiality, the provisions of the Privacy Act 1993, and the Health Information Privacy Code 2020. We value the confidentiality of your health information.

Feedback

If there is a problem about the way you have been treated, or if you are unhappy with any of the services provided, you need to tell us as soon as possible. Please contact us and ask to speak to our complaints officer or outline your concerns in a letter/email to the practice. You can be assured that any issues or complaints will be dealt with promptly. You also have the right to use independent procedures. These are outlined in a pamphlet from the Health and Disability Commissioner available at the Centre or visit their website https://www.hdc.org.nz/making-a-complaint/make-a-complaint-to-hdc/.

Leaving Cook Street Health Centre

If you leave Cook Street Health Centre, please let us know so that we can cancel reminder notices and keep our records up to date. Once you enrol with a new practice, they will request your notes from us once, you have authorised this.