Our fees will be increasing from Monday 2 September.

As you may be aware, we rely on a combination of government funding and patient fees to pay our staff, operate our services, and build/maintain our premises to provide those services.

Each year, the government reviews the general practice sector and advises us both how much our government funding is increasing and how much our fees can increase by. This collective increase in income must cover all our increased costs to ensure that we remain sustainable.

Normally, this increase is spread evenly between government funding and fee increases. This year we have been advised that the increase in government funding will be less, with the expectation that a greater share of this increase needs to come via fees, i.e. from our patients.

Unfortunately, this means that many of our fees are increasing by more than we would like to. We know many whānau are struggling with the increased cost of living and we understand the important role we play in providing equitable access to affordable, high-quality primary care.

You can view our updated fees at www.whitbydoctors.co.nz/fees

If you are struggling with paying for your health care, please see the team at the front desk who can discuss payment options with you. You can also ask your practitioner if there are any funding options available for you during your consultation. Please note that our front desk team are not in any way responsible for this decision making and any negative behaviour towards them regarding changes to fees will not be tolerated.

While it is essential that we can continue to provide services, shifting more of this income to patient fees rather than government funding is unlikely to be sustainable for our patients or our health care system. Primary care funding in Aotearoa New Zealand is already amongst the lowest in the OECD, and ensuring access to high-quality primary care significantly reduces health care costs in, and improves access to, our hospitals and specialist centres.

If you would like to express your support for increased funding for general practice (and therefore lower patient fees), we recommend contacting your local Member of Parliament or the Minister of Health, Dr Shane Reti.

Thank you for being part of our community and we remain committed to delivering excellent and accessible health care to you and your whānau.

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