Our services

Our doctors are experienced general medical practitioners with a broad range of healthcare specialties.

Orewa Medical Centre doctors provide general medical consultations and a full range of personal medical checks as well as commercial medical examinations including those for driving, insurance and diving purposes.  Our doctors recommend regular personal health checks and well child checks including immunisations.  The doctors are available to provide pregnancy care –antenatal and postnatal – and can make recommendations on LMC providers. Orewa Medical Centre doctors have commitments to the local rest homes, private hospitals and dementia units.

Orewa Medical Centre nurses use their extensive knowledge and skills to provide you with the best possible care. One on one consultations for cervical smears, cardiovascular care, smoking cessation support, iron and osteoporosis infusions can be booked with nurses. Chronic medical conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes or asthma can be greatly assisted by the expertise of our nurses. Immunisations for children, travel and work are available. Nurse consultations fees apply.

Nurse telephone service available 24 hours a day everyday including public holidays. Phone (09) 426 5437.

In some circumstances you can order a repeat prescription for a regular medication by phone.

To help with this process, please phone at least one week before your medication runs out, as we allow two business days for the request to be approved and the script to be available.

Repeat prescriptions are issued at the discretion of your doctor, who has the clinical and medico-legal responsibility to medically review you and may ask that you make an appointment.

Earwax is naturally produced by the body to protect the inside of the ear from dust and infection. Ordinarily it moves from the inside to the outside of the ear canal and then falls out.

Sometimes a build-up of wax means you may experience a feeling of ‘fullness’ in your ear, hearing loss or ringing in your ears (tinnitus). At Orewa Medical Centre we remove earwax using a method called microsuction.

Our procedure for removing earwax involves using a suction device under the guidance of a high-powered microscope. This ensures the safe and gentle removal of wax build-up. We may employ additional tools as needed to achieve optimal results. This process is fast and highly effective in addressing discomfort, impaired hearing and the risk of infection.

Microsuction is the safest and most effective technique for cleaning earwax from the ear canal. It is much safer than syringing.

Unlike syringing, which puts excessive pressure on the eardrum and increases the risk of eardrum perforation or irritation, microsuction is a dry procedure which simply sucks the wax out.

This service is for ages 13 and up.  You do not need to be enrolled at Orewa Medical Centre to access this service.

Extracts from an article by Brenda Lockie-Julian, Registered Nurse; Vorotek Product Specialist; Ear Nurse Clinician Trainer; RN BA MBA.

“Growing interest in ear microsuction over the last few years has been driven in part, by client demand as well as practitioners wanting to adopt an alternative, safer practice than ear syringing. As there is an ever-increasing problem with syringing complications, manual wax removal not involving liquid has fewer risks and is now becoming more widely practiced. A combination of procedures can be used – cerumenolytic agents, ear curettage and ear microsuction.

Microsuction is generally well tolerated and considered to be a safer and more effective option than syringing. Carried out under direct vision as a “dry” procedure, there is less risk of trauma and infection. It is considered good for soft to moderately hard wax and wax impactions.

NICE guidelines stress that adults should not be offered ear syringing with the following conditions: dermatologic diseases of the ear canal; recurrent otitis externa; keratosis obturans; prior radiation therapy affecting the ear; previous tympanoplasty/myringoplasty, mastoidectomy, or other ear canal surgery. Some of these conditions would be considered safe to treat with microsuction”.

We offer an up-to-date travel advice and vaccination services. We provide essential pre and post travel care, with assistance in choosing the best insect repellent, minimum hazard exposure and recommending appropriate vaccines for disease prevention. The advice given is individualised to meet your specific travel requirements.

We have online access to the latest health information. This includes information on disease outbreaks, appropriate malarial medication and current international vaccine requirements and recommendations for each country. Yellow fever vaccination is not available from this clinic.

We advise that you book your appointment with us 4-6 weeks before travel is to commence, or as soon as possible, as some vaccines require more than one dose.  You will need to book with your GP who will discuss your travel plans in depth and prescribe recommended vaccines in accordance with your medical history.

Please bring with you:

• Detailed itinerary of travel plans
• Information on previous vaccinations received
• List of current medicines
• List of allergies

For some of these vaccinations, we have stock on hand and can be done on the day, but for others these will need to be ordered in which case we do ask for a 50% deposit for us to order these for you, with the balance paid on the day you are immunised.

Please advise reception staff that you are requesting a travel consultation.  Please note: this is not a subsidised medical appointment so please ask our reception team for the cost of this consultation.

Due to an increase in patient numbers, we do not currently have the capacity to deal with walk-in accident and urgent medical cases.

We have several very experienced GPs able to offer contraceptive advice.

We are able to diagnosis pregnancy and advice about antenatal, pregnancy and postnatal care. Information packs for pregnancy are available and we can discuss referral to midwives or obstetricians. We do not provide a labour or delivery service but can assist with referral to those that do. We are happy to provide care for new babies including all childhood vaccinations and well child checks.

Skin cancer’s early detection is crucial to improve health outcomes and prevent cancer’s dissemination. If you have concerns about a spot, you can book a regular 15-minute appointment with our GPs to have it checked out. If you have multiple spots, we suggest you consider a mole map. Regular skin checks using dermatoscopy are the best way to detect melanoma at the non-invasive early stages.

Our doctors offer a range of services to help you protect your skin:

• 15-minute appointments to check a particular mole, lesion, or spot you’re worried about.
• Arrange to perform a biopsy, cryotherapy (liquid nitrogen) or minor surgery to remove suspicious moles or lesions safely and comfortably (note that additional costs apply; please consult our fees).
• Referral to a skin specialist, if needed.

We have a purpose-built surgical room where minor surgery can be performed under local anaesthetic.  This allows for cost-effective diagnosis and/or removal of most skin lesions, including skin cancers, or referral to another provider if that is the most appropriate management.

Price list:  Please discuss if you have a lump or bump that is not on the list.

You will need to have an appointment with one of the GPs first so the doctor can review and decide on the appropriate plan moving forward.

Steroid (Cortisone) injections are used to reduce pain and swelling in a specific area for the treatment of conditions such as joint pains, injuries, arthritis, or tendinitis. They can be useful to provide short-term pain relief when other treatments are not an option.

Depending on the patient’s condition, the steroid injection will be into a muscle, joint, or soft tissue. The injection will be given by an experienced GP, who will assess first if it is recommended in the patient’s case. This assessment will be performed in a separate appointment.

An ABPI (Ankle-Brachial Pressure Index) is a non-invasive medical test to assess blood flow to the lower limbs. It compares the systolic blood pressure in the ankles to blood pressure in the arms to check for peripheral artery disease (PAD). An ABPI is used to diagnose PAD in at-risk individuals, to evaluate its severity, and to check the safety of compression therapy before it is applied to legs with venous disease.

Orewa Medical Centre offers this service to the wider community; therefore, it is open to other health providers in the area.

We are open Monday to Friday, 8.10am – 5pm.

Outside these hours, you can phone our regular practice number 09 426 5437 and you will be redirected to a 24-hour nurse triage service.

OR

Recommended after-hours virtual provider: If it’s after hours or if one of our doctors is not available, you can have virtual GP consultation with a real doctor by using CareHQ, from 7am-10pm, 7 days per week. Find out more.

Recommended after-hours urgent care clinic: 

Shorecare, 50 Greville Road: 8am – 8pm 7 days a week (including public holidays)

Shorecare Smales Farm, Takapuna: 24/7  365 days of the year

Phone: 09 486 7777