Enrolling with a GP in New Zealand

Health New Zealand says everyone should enrol with a general practice for day-to-day care. Check eligibility, what enrolment involves, and how fees work for enrolled patients.

Health New Zealand says everyone should sign up (enrol) with a general practice to get help with their health needs. Unless it is an emergency, your general practice should be your first point of contact for health advice and care. In Aotearoa New Zealand, you can choose the doctor or general practice that you visit.

It is free to enrol with a general practice. General practices can only enrol you if you are eligible for publicly funded health services. When you enrol you may be asked to show proof, which could include a passport or birth certificate, and you will be asked to sign an enrolment form.

If you enrol with a general practice your care will be subsidised, which means you pay a reduced consultation fee. General practices normally charge a higher fee, often called a casual rate, if you are not enrolled with their practice. General practices are private businesses and set their own fees for visits and other health services they provide.

You can search Healthpoint for general practices and filter by hours, location, services and whether they are enrolling new patients. Sometimes a general practice will not take on new patients; if that happens, Health New Zealand says they should refer you to their primary health organisation for help finding another practice. For a list of practices and their fees, check the website of your local primary health organisation.