Our GP practice has team members who work alongside your doctor and nurses to provide you with a range of mental wellbeing supports and tools. These team members may include Health Improvement Practitioners (HIPs), Health Coaches and Support Workers.

View the following link for more information about wellbeing support in general practice and the national Access & Choice programme.

All women and people with a cervix aged 25 – 69 who have ever had intimate skin-to-skin contact or been sexually active should have regular cervical screening. This includes women who have been immunised against HPV. Together, regular screening and HPV immunisation provide the best protection against cervical cancer.

There are now more options for how you have cervical screening done:

• a simple vaginal swab test for HPV, either done yourself or with help from a healthcare professional
• a cervical sample taken by a healthcare professional (used to be known as a smear test).

Talk with your healthcare provider to decide which option is best for you.

If HPV is found, you may need to have a follow-up test or be referred directly for colposcopy.

If you’ve not yet had HPV testing, you should be screened 3 years after your last test (or 1 year if immune deficient). Once you have had an HPV test, and providing HPV is not found, your next screening will be in 5 years (or 3 years if immune deficient).

For more information: Cervical screening | Time to Screen - National Screening Unit

• Pregnancy vaccinations
• Childhood immunisation programme
• 45 year old vaccinations
• Adult flu vaccine
• Child flu vaccine
• Diphtheria / Tetanus / Pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine
• Measles / Mumps / Rubella (MMR) vaccine
• Meningococcal vaccine
• Catch-up missed vaccinations
• 65 year old vaccinations
• Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine
• Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine
• Shingles vaccine
• Privately funded vaccinations

Immunisation is the safest and most effective way to provide protection for you and your tamariki’s health. For more information view the NZ immunisation schedule.

• Cervical screening

Health screening tests check for health conditions or early warning signs of disease.

• Free or subsidised contraception services (enquire for eligibility and details)
• IUD inserts
• Implant (Jadelle) inserts
• IUD removals
• Implant (Jadelle) removal

LARC methods are very effective at preventing unplanned pregnancy and are “fit and forget” forms of contraception – you don’t need to remember them every day or every month. LARC methods:

• Intrauterine Contraceptive Devices (IUCD or IUD) are inserted through the cervix into a woman’s uterus. IUCDs may be either hormonal (Mirena^® or Jaydess^{® )} or non-hormonal (copper IUCD).
• Jadelle^® is a hormone-releasing implant that is inserted just under the skin of the upper arm.

Depending on the type of device, it will need to be changed after between three and ten years.

Read more about LARC methods here

Minor surgery is commonly provided in primary care practices, providing fast, competent removal and biopsies of skin lesions. Other services include cosmetic work such as removal of benign moles and skin tags. Ingrown toenail surgery is also commonly provided. 
These conditions do not need to be referred to a hospital, perhaps saving you a long wait or a cancelled appointment when a more serious case takes priority.

An ECG is a recording of your heart's electrical activity. Electrode patches are attached to your skin to measure the electrical impulses given off by your heart. The result is a trace that can be read by a doctor. It can give information of previous heart attacks or problems with the heart rhythm.

Primary care practices offer a range of services and are able to deal with most minor accident care. If they are not able to deal with an injury they will refer on to the appropriate service.

Spirometry is a tool that measures how effectively your lungs are working. It can show how much air lungs are able to hold (their volume) and how much air can be breathed in and out (inhaled and exhaled) which is called flow. It can be used to diagnose problems of breathing and monitor the usefulness of treatment. The test involves taking a deep breath in and blowing out as hard as you can into a hollow tube attached to a spirometer machine. You will be asked to do the test several times. The whole process takes 15 - 30 minutes depending on whether you are given some inhaled medicine and asked to do it again to monitor if there is an improvement. Read more about Spirometry on the Healthify website

Peak flow meter This is a small hand-held tube that can measure what is happening in your breathing tubes. You can have one at home and measure your peak flow by blowing into it as hard and fast as possible. You will be shown how to measure it and compare it with what you can blow when you are well as part of your asthma management plan if you think you are having an asthma attack. For more information view on the Healthify website

Ear microsuction is a safe and gentle way to remove earwax or debris from your ears. A clinician uses a small suction device, while looking closely into your ear with a microscope, to carefully clear the blockage.

Liquid nitrogen is a fast, effective treatment provided in many practices to treat viral warts, sun damaged skin, skin tags and many benign cosmetic lesions. It comes in a container with a nozzle and is usually applied by swab or spray. Often one treatment is all that is needed but sometimes it may need repeating after two weeks.
Because it cannot be stored for too long, you will often find that your GP will treat a number of patients one after the other. 

For more information click here.