Please be patient with our staff
At the moment we have an unusually high demand for our services, coupled with staff shortages. We request you please be patient with our staff and they will help you as quickly and efficiently as they can.
Thank you.
Our books are open again - Call to enrol
Nelson Family Medicine are in a position to take on limited numbers of new patients.
To see if you are eligible to enrol you will need to call the practise during office hours.
Contact phone numbers
In an emergency dial 111
General Practice
03 548 0918
03 546 8911
Urgent after hours care
03 546 8881
Fax
03 546 7128
Opening Hours: 8.00 am to 5.00 pm weekdays.
Manage My Health portal
COVID19: What you need to know as of 1/5/22
It appears we may have reached the peak of community cases of Omicron here and numbers should fall. However we have been warned that the peak may be quite broad and the tail quite long, so although we now have some new freedoms the virus will be with us for some time yet. Overall the community and medical services are coping very well here.
Please make sure to register a positive test result on https://mycovidrecord.health.nz. There is an online form that helps identify any help you may need. You will also receive helpful information about what a positive test means for you. Some people have had trouble with this, but by now any wrinkles are probably ironed out. However if you have problems there is excellent real person support on 0800 222 478.
There is no contact tracing outside of high risk environments anymore so it is your responsibility to advise your close contacts and let them know to have a test if they are symptomatic. Only household contacts have to isolate. If you have close contact exemption as an essential worker you are able to continue working on the basis of a daily live test.
The very good news is that symptoms of the omicron variant are generally mild, so we are very fortunate that NZ largely missed the delta variant. Most otherwise healthy people are managing at home with symptoms that are no worse than a very bad cold. The group most commonly affected is school age children. See below for helpful advice about protecting our tamariki. Remember we are here as back up if you do have problems, arising from either medical needs or social needs.
Don’t hesitate to call.
For information about recovering from Covid at home see the links below.
https://www.healthnavigator.org.nz/videos/c/covid-in-the-community/
https://covid19.govt.nz/assets/resources/posters/COVID-19-Readiness-Checklist.pdf
For the children:
Vaccination is continuing alongside testing. Vaccination is now approved for children five years and older and of course is one good way of providing protection.
The reduced dose is given eight weeks apart. The interval between the second dose for adults and their booster shot has been reduced to three months to maximise resistance to Omicron. Many immunocompromised patients who had an extended primary course are now due a booster and it is important they get this.
We do not provide Covid Vaccination here. The vaccination centres, are offering convenient access. Most are walk-in but you can book if you want. Simply click the button below or phone 0800 28 29 26.
Attitudes to vaccination obviously remain very polarised.
Parents may well have concern about the vaccine recommendation for children. We are happy to discuss these or click on this link from Health Navigator that has useful answers to frequently asked questions.
You can also visit the Immunisation Advisory Centre of NZ website by clicking on the button below.
If you prefer to have your questions answered by a person you can ring the Healthline number 0800 611 116.
There is a central process to apply for vaccination exemptions. For information and the application form click on the button below.
Mask exemptions are still provided through the Disabled Persons Assembly. We cannot provide them for you. If you are unable to wear a mask and we ask you to wait in the foyer rather than the waiting room remember this is not punitive. Quite the opposite we are trying to minimise YOUR risk of infection in the waiting room as much as, if not more than, the risk to other patients waiting.
At the moment we are providing remote consultations (mostly by phone but some by video) or face to face appointments with a mask. If you are unable to wear a mask, please advise us. Unfortunately only phone consultations can be booked online via the MMH patient portal. All other appointments need to be made by calling the surgery. We apologise for any inconvenience this causes.
We are providing Covid testing (PCR and RAT) at the surgery for symptomatic patients. We need you to call ahead so we can either make a time for you to be seen and given a test or collect a test to self-administer. We are still providing pre-departure testing for international travel. The lab is back to being able to offer an express service to ensure results arrive in time. For a little while they were overwhelmed by demand and couldn’t do this. Some airlines are also accepting a certified RAT test but you do have to make sure of your airline’s exact requirements.
Other countries are getting to the end of this phase of the pandemic that we are still going through. All the restrictions are being lifted and case numbers are falling. Not long to go and we will be in the same position. Until then…
Stay Kind and remember to think of friends, family and neighbours who are sick and isolating and help where you can.
Here are some useful links for this:
Services offered by Nelson Family Medicine
Nelson Family Medicine offers a comprehensive range of professional medical and health services to patients.
For more information about our Services use the button below.
Right now Nelson Family Medicine is in a position to have limited spaces for new patients. If you wish to become a patient of ours then you must call the Practise during office hours to discuss.
Download our newsletter
Download the latest Nelson Family Medicine newsletter.
Every 2 months Nelson Family Medicine release a Newsletter containing information on what’s happening at the clinic and stories of potential interest for patients.
Our newsletters date back to January 2015, to see the full archived list use the button below.
Cornerstone accredited general practice
The Cornerstone brandmark assures you that Nelson Family Medicine continues to meet the highest-available standard of General Practice accreditation.
Nelson Family Medicine recognises that New Zealand now has a superdiverse population. We welcome all: religions,cultures,ethnicities,sexual orientations, gender identifications and social circumstances. Naumai Haere Mai.
Caring professionals that make the difference.
Further information
For more detailed information on the website you can use the following links to visit Nelson Family Medicine Disclaimer or Privacy Policy pages.
Visit Nelson Family Medicine’s full Terms of Trade page.