Information about how much it costs to visit a doctor (GP) in NZ

[Toonster]

I've managed to register by post (they emailed me the forms, I filled them out along with a photocopy of my passport and visa, and posted back), but I do need to go in to show them the real passport/visa before they will actually let me see the Dr on Monday. This was after a little bit of back and forth with me pointing out that I work in Wellington and live in Lower Hutt, and the surgery opens half an hour after I start work and closes about 20 minutes before I get home, and I didn't really want to take time off just to register! She did accept that as being a valid reason

For those in the Hutt area, a nice page on prices and individual GP contact details (which I found difficult to find on the Valley PHO website - a totally evil site to navigate, particularly in a crisis!) is here:
http://www.kowhaihealth.org.nz/valleypho.htm

[Jo Jo]

For those in the Hutt area, a nice page on prices and individual GP contact details (which I found difficult to find on the Valley PHO website - a totally evil site to navigate, particularly in a crisis!) is here:
http://www.kowhaihealth.org.nz/valleypho.htm

I've added that link to the list in the first post, thanks.

[sharkalopodous]

Thanks for posting the info...

My question is, can I as a non resident apply to go to a PHO clinic and have it be subsidized as well? Or will I have to pay the $85 (or around there) everytime one of us has an appointment? My husband will be on a student visa (uni of Canterbury), and me and my 2 infants will be on a visitor visa for the first few years. How does enrolling work?

They will need their routine vaccines etc. so $85 + I'm assuming a charge for the vaccine each time can add up quick. So just wondering how the system works for non-residents?

[Familyofmonkeys]

Thanks for posting the info...

My question is, can I as a non resident apply to go to a PHO clinic and have it be subsidized as well? Or will I have to pay the $85 (or around there) everytime one of us has an appointment? My husband will be on a student visa (uni of Canterbury), and me and my 2 infants will be on a visitor visa for the first few years. How does enrolling work?

They will need their routine vaccines etc. so $85 + I'm assuming a charge for the vaccine each time can add up quick. So just wondering how the system works for non-residents?

If your OH has a student visa, you can usually apply for a temp work visa for the same period of time, and your kids can get some sort of student visa too so they can attend school/kindy without paying fees.....I knew a number of people who were studying at Massey Uni in Auckland who were in this situation, so worth checking the rules haven't changed. If the visa is issued for 2 years or more then you and your family get healthcare charges at same rate as someone with PR.

Kids vaccines are mostly free here, but it's worth checking which ones your kids will need against the NZ schedule. Compared to UK, NZ vaccinates against a difference strain of Meningitis and my youngest child couldn't get his last scheduled booster here, and all my kids had to start over again with other courses of immunisations over our first 6 months such as Hep B, which is not routine in UK. There are also a couple of other vaccines that you can get here but only if you order them and pay the full cost for them as they are not given as standard....at the time we moved this applied to Prevanar, although I think that may have been introduced here recently.

[sharkalopodous]

Thanks for the reply.
I have thought about a work visa, but reading according to the immigration website, it says that I cannot get one unless my husband is studying something on the skills shortage list? I would love to get a work visa instead of a visitors visa, even though for the first 2 yrs I won't be working because my children are so young, but I could work parttime. But yea according to their website I'm not eligible for the temp one under the family stream. So not sure how I could get one?

Also I emailed the the Immunisation advisory centre in Auckland about children of non-residents getting vaccines and just for other people's reference, this is what she replied with,

"All children in New Zealand under 16 years of age are entitled to have, free of charge, our scheduled vaccines. If there are vaccines that your require outside of the schedule you need to pay for them.
You need to register with a General Practitioner when you arrive and the vaccines are given at the clinic by a Registered Nurse.
If you check our website you will find the schedule. Please make sure you bring all records of your children’s vaccinations with you so you have a complete record for the future."

I'm not sure if the doctor would charge for the appointment for the vaccine or not, but the vaccine itself seems to be free, which is great news for us.

[Familyofmonkeys]

I'm not sure if the doctor would charge for the appointment for the vaccine or not, but the vaccine itself seems to be free, which is great news for us.

Vaccinations are normally done by the practice nurse (not the Dr) and they don't charge for this.

[sharkalopodous]

Vaccinations are normally done by the practice nurse (not the Dr) and they don't charge for this.

Awesome thanks!

[JandM]

sharkalopodous, depending on your own skills and qualifications, maybe you could get a work permit of some kind in your own right? Perhaps a temporary work one?

[sharkalopodous]

Right now I am a qualified primary teacher in Canada, but I just graduated and don't have work experience, so without a job offer, I read they won't grant you one. Only if you are a high school teacher they will. I am qualified to teach up to year 10 math in Canada, but that is an extra qualification that NZ may not recognize because my actual B.Ed. degree is in primary/junior (K-6). I have to do my NZQA assessment still but need to wait until October because I'm currently upgrading my BA as well to an Hons. BA.

[JandM]

Have you been in contact with the NZTC? They're the people to give you a definite answer. http://www.teacherscouncil.govt.nz/os/index.stm