Welcome to Dargaville Medical Centre

The Dargaville Medical Centre has made the difficult decision that from Wednesday 28th August 2024 our fees for patients are going to be increased.

This has not been a decision that has been made lightly but is necessary to ensure we are able to continue to provide the service that we have been doing into the future.

Capitation is the government’s way of providing primary care with a predictable, set amount of money for each patient enrolled with them. In the last 19 out of 20 year’s capitation has failed to meet inflation, a problem that is continuing to occur this year.

Rural practices, like us, carry an additional financial burden by offering urgent and complex care services that would be provided by A&E in larger centers.

We have been told that to make up for this shortfall, we should increase our patient fees which you can find below. Dargaville Medical Centre joins the larger primary care community in feeling distressed by this decision at a time when many of our patients are already struggling with the cost of living increases.

We are still reviewing services that will be affected by price increases. These will be displayed on our website and in practice

We understand many patients are already struggling with the cost of living increases, please speak to one of our reception team about payment options that we have available

Dargaville Medical Centre will only be open Monday to Friday from 7.30am-5.30 pm and Saturdays from 9am-12pm.

We will no longer be open on Sundays and Public Holidays.

Where to access health care after hours

Outside of Dargaville Medical Centre opening hours continue to ring us on 09 439 8079 and you will be forwarded to Ka Ora Telecare service. You will be triaged by a team member and you will either be offered advice, offered a virtual consultation online or if you need face to face care they will forward you to the appropriate service

The nurse assessment is free and if a virtual appointment is needed with a GP you will be charged for this.

If you or someone else has a medical emergency – a serious or life-threatening condition – please call 111.

🦻🦻 Are you or someone you care about having difficulties hearing?? 🦻🦻

Speak to one of our staff members about our FREE community audiology pilot programme to see if it's suitable. As part of the pilot you receive

- A hearing test with a qualified audiologist

- Hearing needs assessment to see if hearing aids are right for you

- Hearing aids fitted free of charge, fitted by a qualified audiologist

Due to our staffing shortages, and in order for us to be able to provide a good quality service to our enrolled population, we will only be enrolling patients who live within our boundaries:

North- Waipoua Forest

South- Pouto Point- To the end of peninsular

West- Coast line

East- Tangiteroria & To Ford Rd in Paparoa

You will need to confirm your place of residence and this may require 2 documents- e.g. phone, power, insurance, bill.

This only applies to new enrolments. For patients currently enrolled with Dargaville Medical Centre who live outside the area you can still remain registered with us, but you will need to commit to engaging with our services face to face at least annually (this may need to be more frequently based on your medical needs)

11 December 2023 - March 2024

The Dargaville Xray Department is having an upgrade

During this time they will be operating at a reduced capacity

The temporary machine is limited in what it can do, so please be aware that during the first 4 weeks you must make an appointment to get an xray (unless it is an emergency, then your GP will organise this) you may also need to travel to Whangarei Hospital for an xray during the upgrade

Your Doctor or Nurse will supply you with the details to book your appointment.

From Monday 23rd May 2022
Prescriptions requested on weekend on Public Holidays will cost $35

These clinics are for emergencies only

Our standard turn around time for prescription requests is 48 hours. Please contact us during business hours Monday - Friday to organise your prescription

We aim to have our Dr Triage service return your call within 1 hour. However some days can have wait times of up to 2 or 3 Hours. Please provide our staff with as much information about why you need to speak to the Dr. This will ensure patients with a higher need a prioritised accordingly

😷 Masks are encouraged but not compulsory, we will still offer everyone masks on arrival.

😷Patients who have no respiratory symptoms don’t need to wear a mask

😷Patients who have respiratory symptoms will be asked to wait in a designated waiting area

😷All patients will be screened for respiratory symptoms at reception, even those with booked patients.

Our GP’s are often booked 3-4 weeks in advance. Please plan ahead, especially if you have a preferred Doctor. Many patients find it helpful to lock in their next appointment time as soon as they have seen their Dr

Recent changes in health funding has led to a change in our Skin Cancer Clinic:

* Free skin clinic appointments will no longer be available.
* New skin clinic appointments can only be made through your GP
* A standard skin clinic consultation will now be $40

Please understand that we aim to provide the best service that we can to ALL our enrolled patients, with the limited resources that we have. It is essential that we use a priority system- those with the greatest need will get preference.

There are lots of winter bugs about at the moment. Sometimes its hard to know if your child needs to see a Dr or not. Below is a link to some handy tips on what you can do at home, when you should seek medical attention and where you can go for more advice

https://www.rph.org.nz/public-health-topics/schools/school-health-snippets/general-health/winter-illness/influenza-factsheet-2023.pdf?fbclid=IwAR0CYPwW-FDgvzFh7kLntick6CoUY_jgYrWQ0JNme4-bN8ujpYKFBNx52iE