Primary health care providers
The majority of primary health care services have traditionally been provided by GPs and practice nurses.
Background
The Primary Health Care Strategy places a greater emphasis on the broader multidisciplinary primary health care team - GPs, nurses, pharmacists, allied health professionals (including physiotherapists, dietitians, psychologists, counsellors and occupational therapists) and disability professionals - so that people will have direct access to a range of primary health care providers.
GP visits
The Government provides subsidies to lower the cost of GP visits for eligible people enrolled in PHOs. GPs operate private businesses and so are able to set their own fees for consultations and other services such as writing repeat prescriptions without a consultation. Children under six years old are eligible for reduced cost doctor visits and free prescription medicines regardless of their doctor belonging to a PHO or not.
Fees charged for general practices services, according to local arrangements between DHBs and PHOs, are published on DHB websites.
You can only be enrolled in one PHO at a time, and the practice you visit most often will receive funding for your visits. If you need to make a casual visit to another practice (for example, if you are away from home and get sick), and you do not hold a Community Services Card, you may be charged the full fee as a casual patient.
Primary health care nursing
In some cases it is more appropriate for health services to be delivered by a nurse rather than a GP. First Contact Funding to PHOs includes a Practice Nurse Subsidy.
The Primary Health Care Strategy identified primary health care nurses as crucial to its successful implementation. The development of some services delivered through PHOs, such as Services to Improve Access initiatives and Care Plus, have enabled more effective use of nursing skills.
Page last updated: 22 September 2011
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