Standard Medical Consultation Fees

This page provides information about our standard consultation fees.
Our fees for other services may be found here.

Fees for Enrolled Patients

A 10% discount is offered to patients with high use health cards (more than 11 visits per year). This is rounded to the nearest dollar.

Patients who choose to see us on a casual basis are charged an additional $25 per consultation to cover the additional administration costs involved.

We are often asked questions about our fees. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. Some of the more common questions and their answers are listed below.

Q: I thought under 6 year-olds were supposed to be seen free. Why do you charge?

A: We book our appointments at the same interval for children as for adults. This allows us to offer a superior service but costs the same to provide as any other consultation. Sadly, the government subsidy does not cover the difference. We charge considerably less than most practices in Christchurch, some of whom charge up to $25.

Q: Why so many age groups?

A: The age groups are the same groups the government uses to set subsidy levels. We pass on the full benefit of any increase in subsidy as soon as it becomes available. Sometimes this varies between age groups.

Q: Why are ACC fees the same?

A: In the past, when there was no subsidy for standard consultations, ACC was the only source of subsidy for adults and the fees were correspondingly lower.  ACC subsidies are now very similar to those offered for non ACC consultations and it is no longer possible for us to absorb the additional costs.

Q: The subsidy is lower for the 65+ age group so why are their consultations cheaper?

A: We reduced our prices for the 65+ group by more than the subsidy in order to keep our price structure affordable for our pensioners, many of whom have a fixed income and rising costs. We hope you don't mind the lower fees. We have not used extra fees from other groups to subsidise this lower fee.

Q: What payment methods do you accept?

A: We prefer eftpos and are pleased to accept Visa, Mastercard, cheques and cash.

Q: Do I have to pay on the day?

A: Yes. Payment is expected, and very much appreciated at the time of consultation.

Enrolled patients may choose to pay later and we expect payment to be made by the 20th of the month. A $10 account fee is added to any accounts unpaid after 60 days. This helps towards the cost of administration and sending reminders.

We regret that any costs incurred in recovering bad debt (including collection agency fees) are passed on to debtors.

Casual patients may be requested to pay in advance for some services.