What is primary healthcare?

Primary healthcare is what you receive when you visit your GP, midwife, practice nurse, dentist, physiotherapist, counsellor or a number of other non hospital-based providers. Your primary healthcare provider is generally your first point of call for medical treatment. When you are referred to a hospital or specialist, this is classed as secondary care.

The new avenue to providing primary care

In February 2001 the minister of health Annette King released the Primary Health Care Strategy .

At the heart of the strategy was the creation of new organisations called Primary Health Organisations, or PHOs, designed to deliver primary healthcare services to the community, in many cases at a lower cost than has been available.

The strategy envisages GPs, practice nurses, Maori health providers, midwives and other primary healthcare providers working together in PHOs to meet the health requirements of the people enrolled in their PHOs.

New Zealand now has 73 PHOs providing services for over 3.5 million people. Most of the early PHOs were started in areas with either large Maori or Pacific Island populations or high numbers of low income families.

How do I join a PHO?

If your current family GP becomes part of a PHO it is likely you will be asked to enrol in the PHO the next time you visit your doctor. In the meantime, if your name is on the practice register it will be automatically included on the register of the PHO. However, your GP will eventually need to get your consent to this enrolment.

Enrolling with a PHO does not mean you can only go to providers who belong to that PHO. However, if you visit a provider in another PHO, your PHO will have to meet the cost.

What if my doctor doesn't belong to a PHO?

If your doctor doesn't belong to a PHO you could choose to shift to another doctor nearby who does belong. However, it is anticipated that in the next few years most New Zealanders will have access to primary healthcare through a PHO.

Eventually all primary healthcare providers will need to be allied to a PHO if they wish to receive Government subsidises for treating patients.