GP Consultations

We invite you to enrol with Medplus as your preferred provider for primary medical care. This means Medplus will be the main provider of your health care and with your permission we will request your medical records from your previous provider.

Enroled patients immediately qualify for lower fees. New patients will receive a free 30 minute new patient check from our Nurse Lead, Gemma.

If we have appointment availability we are happy to see patients who are not enrolled with us.

Please note, we operate from 2 sites. Please check you know which site you are booking to attend.

PLEASE GO TO https://medplus.co.nz/services/gp-consultations/ OR LATEST NEWS FOR UPDATES ON HOW WE WILL CONTINUE TO PROVIDE SERVICE AT DIFFERENT COVID LEVELS.

Our weekday appointments are booked at 15-minute intervals which includes the time your doctor needs to clean their room, briefly look at your notes, collect you, have the consultation, and complete all note keeping. This means your consultation itself is about 10 minutes. Please be realistic about what you can achieve in this time and prioritise your issues so we deal with the most important first. If you feel you have a complex issue (such as an emotional issue) or have a list of problems, then please book a double appointment. If you need a translater please let us know in advance and you will need a double appointment.

Appointments can be face to face or virtual (phone or video). They can be booked via reception or on the Health 365 Patient Portal. Same-day appointments can only be booked via reception and all patients needing a same-day appointment will receive a brief phone call from our Phone Triage GP or nurse. This is to ensure that those who have urgent problems are looked after in an appropriate time frame, and those that can be helped over the phone are managed accordingly. For more information please go to https://medplus.co.nz/news/entry/gp-phone-triage-same-day-appointments/

Face-to-face consultations are streamed into Red and Green Streams currently, to ensure that potential COVID cases are kept completely separate from anyone else. Red streams are those with cough, sore throat, runny nose, head cold, muscle aches, loss of smell or fever. Green is anything else. Our Anne Street branch is only able to see Green Streamed patients. At Medplus Lake Road we see Red Stream patients in our Red Cabin. For more information please go to https://medplus.co.nz/news/entry/red-and-green-streams/

Thank you for your help with cancellations - If you need to cancel an appointment, please do this at the earliest opportunity - cancellations with less than 2 hours' notice will incur a fee. For your convenience, we send a text reminder of your appointment the night before. We also text ANne Street patients to remind them that they are being seen there.

At the weekends we operate an Urgent Clinic at Medplus Lake Road, no appointment required, between 9am and 12 noon. Whilst COVID is in our community it is helpful if you phone us early on in the morning so we can get you into a Red or Green stream.

Please note we require face masks or coverings for everyone over 12 years of age whilst at either branch of Medplus.

Virtual Consultations

We can support you with phone or video consultations if required. These are the ultimate in convenience for you. However, there are some limitations as we can not examine you if needed. Please think carefully about a virtual consultation, it is clearly not sensible for chest pain, abdominal pains, skin checks and anything else where an examination provides essential information. Virtuals are better for follow up of long term health problems, but are also useful for mental health. If you can provide us with information, such as temperature, heart rate, blood pressure and peak flow (in asthma) that helps greatly. Also, if you take a photo of a rash and upload it to the patient portal we get better resolution than on a video consultation.

Video Consultations

If you have booked a virtual appointment, please put if you want a video consultation in the additional information box.

Then, choose the appropriate web browser. if you are on an iPhone use Safari, on android use Chrome, on Windows and Macs you can use Chrome, Firefox or Safari.

Go to http://doxy.me/medpluslakeroad

You need to enter your name – please do so as FIRSTNAME, SURNAME, Date of Birth

E.g. JacindaArden26July1980

Allow camera and audio access. You will enter a virtual waiting room and your GP will pick up your consult when they are able to. Your appointment time is only an indication.

If we can't find you in the virtual waiting room we will of course phone you.

Appointments on weekdays can be booked on our patient portal, Health 365.

Please note payment is expected at the time of service. You may pay by credit card, EFTPOS, or internet banking. If you have Southern Cross just give reception your number and we may be able to claim your costs directly from them.

Repeat Prescriptions

• If your doctor has indicated that your health condition is stable and that your medications are suited to repeat prescribing you may be able to order repeat prescriptions and see your doctor at a reduced frequency. This is entirely at the determination of your GP who follows strict prescribing protocols.
• Each patient needs to be reviewed at the very minimum of once every year to be able to do a repeat prescription, and depending on the condition it may need to be every 3-6 months.
• The maximum duration of any prescription we can give is for 3 months, apart from the oral contraceptive pill which can be for 6 months.
• For most antidepressants, we need to review patients every 3 months and do not offer repeats.
• Repeat prescriptions are ordered online via our portal at a cost of $25. or slightly more by phone. Please allow 2 weekdays for processing. Remember, your doctor does not sit looking at the portal all day and will check it at least once on days they work, so please do not leave urgent requests via the portal but call our Medical Assistant.
• The charges mentioned above are for the pick up of the prescription at the Medplus reception. If you need your prescription sent directly to a pharmacy of your choice we are happy to help. Most local pharmacies can now be emailed at no additional cost. For those pharmacies not set up on our electronic system, there will be a $2 handling fee which covers the administrative costs of faxing the prescription to the pharmacy, follow-up posting of the original prescription to the pharmacy, and the costs of invoicing.
• No repeats are issued at the weekend because of our reduced staffing levels. If you need more medication you will need a consultation with the GP.
• We are unable to issue repeats to visitors to our practice or for medications not previously prescribed at Medplus.
• Normally repeat prescriptions are collected from our reception desk by the recipient. If someone else is to collect your prescription, we will need authorisation from you to release it. Prescriptions can also be sent to the pharmacy of your choice. If you have an outstanding bill you will have to collect your repeat prescription at Medplus reception and pay your account before pick up.
• If you need a small amount of your medication to allow you time to arrange to see your doctor, please ask for a tie-over prescription so that you do not run out.