There is currently an outbreak of diphtheria in Australia. Diphtheria is a life threatening infection, but is mostly prevented by vaccination. The current Australian outbreak is thought to have a low chance of spreading to New Zealand.

People who have had four doses of diphtheria vaccine are considered immune long-term.

The NZ vaccination schedule has diphtheria vaccines funded and provided at:

• Five times through childhood (6 weeks – 11 years)
• As part of pertussis vaccination in pregnancy
• At age 65
• As part of tetanus vaccination for dirty wounds
• For those who haven’t previously completed vaccination

If you’re up to date with the NZ vaccination you don’t need to do anything. If you aren’t fully immunised feel free to contact us to discuss catch-up vaccination.

Selwyn Village Healthcare will be shut for the Kings birthday public holiday on Monday 1 June. We reopen with our usual hours from Tuesday 2 June.

For General Practice needs during this period we recommend using www.AfterhoursGP.co.nz who offer scheduled GP appointments in evenings, weekends, and public holidays. You can also call the national phone healthline Whakarongorau on 0800 611 116 for health triage and advice.

You can also attend any of Christchurch’s urgent care walk-in services – eg. Christchurch hospital Emergency Department, Riccarton Clinic, Moorhouse Medical, Pegasus 24 Hour Surgery.

We’ve updated our privacy statement to meet recent changes in privacy law.

What’s changed?
Our privacy statement now provides more detail about where we get information from. We’ve also added more about the types of information and what we use it for.

We collect your information directly from you when we can. We may also receive information about you from a range of other sources.

Check out our privacy statement to see the full detail of what information we collect, where we collect it from, and the purposes we use it for.

Selwyn Village Healthcare will be shut for the ANZAC public holiday on Monday 27 April. We reopen with our usual hours from Tuesday 28 April.

For General Practice needs during this period we recommend using www.AfterhoursGP.co.nz who offer scheduled GP appointments during evenings, weekends, and public holidays. You can also call the national phone healthline Whakarongorau on 0800 611 116 for health triage and advice.

You can also attend any of Christchurch’s urgent care walk-in services – eg. Christchurch hospital Emergency Department, Riccarton Clinic, Moorhouse Medical, Pegasus 24 Hour Surgery.

We’re thrilled to welcome back Dr Kim Nordmeier from maternity leave.

We know many of our patients have missed her, and we are so pleased to have her back as part of our clinical team. She is resuming her regular sessions and looking forward to catching up with her patients and supporting your ongoing health and wellbeing.

If you’d like to book, you can do so through our patient portal or by calling reception.

We are pleased to now offer the 2026 annual influenza (flu) vaccine (Influvac Tetra) to our enrolled patients. Vaccination is an important step in protecting yourself and those close to you from the flu virus.

Why Get Vaccinated?

• Up to 10% of non-vaccinated people become unwell with flu each year, which can sometimes be life-threatening. The flu vaccine usually halves the chance of catching the flu.
• It reduces the severity and length of illness if you do catch the flu.
• It helps prevent the spread of flu to others.
• You contribute to community protection, safeguarding those who are most vulnerable.
• Each year there are different strains of flu virus in our community; the vaccine is targeted against the year’s most likely flu strains. Previous year’s vaccines don’t always protect you from this year’s flu strains.

What are the downsides?

• Sometimes people have irritating side effects (eg. headache or sore arm) for a few days, which are usually mild.
• Serious reactions are extremely rare. Anaphylaxis (life threatening allergy) occurs about once out of every million doses given.

What are the costs?

• Influenza vaccination is fully funded (no charge) for those aged 65+, during pregnancy, and for many chronic health conditions (full criteria listed here).
• For all others there is a $30 fee for vaccination.

How do I get it?

• We provide flu vaccination as a walk-in service for our patients, no appointment needed.
• To reduce waiting times it is best to come down between 9-11am weekdays

What about kids?

• Influvac Tetra is available for anyone over 6 months old.
• A second dose is recommended 4 weeks later if a young child has never received flu vaccine before.
• Please call and book a nurse appointment for children (rather than walk-in).

Click here for more information on this years flu vaccine.

Selwyn Village Healthcare will be shut for the Easter public holidays on Friday 3 April and Monday 6 April. We reopen with our usual hours from Tuesday 7 April.

For General Practice needs during this period we recommend using www.AfterhoursGP.co.nz who offer scheduled GP appointments during evenings, weekends, and public holidays. You can also call the national phone healthline Whakarongorau on 0800 611 116 for health triage and advice.

You can also attend any of Christchurch’s urgent care walk-in services – eg. Christchurch hospital Emergency Department, Riccarton Clinic, Moorhouse Medical, Pegasus 24 Hour Surgery.

From February 2026 ADHD Expert GPs are able to diagnose Adult ADHD and start medication (ages 18+).

Selwyn Village Healthcare does not have any ADHD Expert GPs currently. We cannot diagnose Adult ADHD and start medication.

For a diagnostic assessment you need to see an ADHD Expert GP or a psychiatrist. Some may accept self-referral. Costs are expected to be $1000-$3000; there is no public funding for adults. Children can continue to be be referred to a publicly funded psychiatrist after seeing their GP.

Please keep an eye on our website for further updates as they occur.

Many medicines can now be prescribed for >3 months. Most patients will no longer need to request prescription repeats without an appointment.

At your next medication review appointment, your prescriber will discuss how frequently your health conditions & medications need to be reviewed, and prescribe enough for that time. When your medications are running low, you’ll need to book another appointment

How often you need to be seen is a complex decision – many patients will still need to be seen every 3-6 months. Some medications (eg addictive medications) can only be prescribed for one month or may have other restrictions.

If you forget to book before you run out, you’ll still be able to request a bridging prescription (1-4) weeks to tie you through until you can make a convenient appointment.

Reviewing medications and their related health conditions takes a full appointment to do safely – if you have other issues you’ll be asked to book a separate appointment to assess fully.

Please note – prescription durations won’t be changed without an appointment to assess and discuss.

Selwyn Village Healthcare will be shut for the Waitangi day public holiday on Friday 6 February. We reopen with our usual hours from Monday 9 February.

For General Practice needs during this period we recommend using www.AfterhoursGP.co.nz who offer scheduled GP appointments during evenings, weekends, and public holidays. You can also call the national phone healthline Whakarongorau on 0800 611 116 for health triage and advice.

You can also attend any of Christchurch’s urgent care walk-in services – eg. Christchurch hospital Emergency Department, Riccarton Clinic, Moorhouse Medical, Pegasus 24 Hour Surgery.

Danielle is currently training with us as a GP Registrar, under the guidance of Consultant GP Dr Ben Seers.

GP Registrars are qualified doctors with years of experience, who are training to become consultant GPs.

GP registrars see patients independently, with advice from another GP when needed. Their patients should receive the same high standard of care that we all strive for.

Please join us in welcoming Danielle to Selwyn Village Healthcare.

We’re writing to provide reassurance in light of the recent ransomware attack threatening to release patient health information. Within the last week a large amount of private data was stolen from the GP patient portal provider Manage My Health (MMH).

At Selwyn Village Healthcare all health information we hold for our patients is secure, and has not been involved in this incident.

Selwyn Village Healthcare has never had involvement with MMH, and they hold none of our patient records. We have chosen to work with IT provider Indici (for our GP software & patient portal), in large part because we believe they take information security extremely carefully.

Patients who have previously used Manage My Health at a previous practice should be contacted directly if their information has been involved in the this breach.

Selwyn Village Healthcare will continue to take an extremely careful approach to looking after your health information. Please see the document below for more information.

Selwyn Village Healthcare will be shut from Thursday 25th December, reopening Monday 5th January 2026.

Please arrange appointments and prescription requests early so you don’t miss out.

For General Practice needs during this period we recommend using www.AfterhoursGP.co.nz, who provide booked appointments outside our opening hours, or calling the national phone healthline Whakarongorau on 0800 611 116 for advice.

You can also attend any of Christchurch’s urgent care walk-in services (Christchurch hospital Emergency Department, Riccarton Clinic, Moorhouse Medical, Pegasus 24 Hour Surgery).

Have a nice summer break – we look forward to seeing you back in 2026

With the recent cases of measles around NZ, we’re sharing information for our patients on immunity to measles and proof of immunity.

You care considered immune to measles if:

• You were born before 1969
• You have had two doses of measles / MMR (Measles Mumps Rubella) vaccine, above age 1

In NZ people who were born after 1982 who received the routine schedule of childhood vaccinations are fully vaccinated, and many others may be immune through catch-up vaccination programs.

Proof of immunity: If you wish to have proof of immunity there are several options:

• Find your Well Child / Plunket book. Look for two doses of vaccinations called “MMR” or “Measles”.
• We can email you your electronic vaccination record. These have been recorded electronically since about 2005-2010, so don’t show proof of immunity for many patients. Email us to request this at Reception@selwynvillagehealthcare.co.nz
• You can be vaccinated again – see below. Blood tests for immunity are not generally available.

If you are exposed to measles but don’t have proof of immunity, you may get sick and/or be required by public health to quarantine.

Measles vaccination (MMR)

Measles is extremely infectious, and cause serious / life threatening illness (especially for young children and those with other health conditions).

Two doses of Measles vaccines are very effective for preventing measles infection. The measles vaccine currently available is called MMR – in addition to Measles it also protects against two other infections (Mumps and Rubella).

MMR vaccine is well proven to be safe, although it can’t be given to those who are pregnant, or some immunosuppressed people (eg. undergoing chemotherapy)

MMR vaccine is free (fully funded) for anyone eligible for NZ healthcare, AND for all children/youth aged 1-17 living in NZ.

If you haven’t had two doses of measles vaccine we can provide catch-up vaccination. You can book these directly with our nurses.

We’d like to share some information about upcoming changes to the process for diagnosing ADHD in adults – this is relevant to any patient who is currently being assessed for ADHD, or who is waiting for / considering having an assessment. 

For some background information about ADHD in adults, see Healthinfo.org.nz

From February 2026, some General Practitioners (GPs) will be approved to make a diagnosis of ADHD in patients that they assess, and to also start prescribing medication for ADHD. Previously (and until that date) this can only be done by specialist Psychiatrists, usually after a diagnostic assessment by themselves or with a clinical psychologist +/- referral from a GP. 

There is very little information yet about what the new system will look like from February 2026, or what will happen during the transition period. Our advice below relates to the information we’ve received so far. This advice does not apply to children & youth aged 5-17 (for whom the existing process isn’t changing). 

From now, until February 2026

• The Christchurch public hospital psychiatrists have just advised us that from the beginning of December they will stop processing and approving requests for new ADHD diagnoses and medication endorsement.
• If you are currently undertaking and have almost completed an assessment with a Clinical Psychologist, we recommend you prioritise getting this completed and having a GP appointment for referral as soon as possible, within November.
• If you are waiting for (or just about to start) an ADHD diagnosis assessment with a Clinical Psychologist, we recommend you defer your assessment until more information is known. It is likely that even with a psychologist assessment completed, you would need to wait until February and pay more to also see an expert GP for their assessment – see below. 
• We will no longer be able to arrange for Psychiatrist medication approval to happen funded through the public health system from the beginning of December.

From February 2026 – our best guess as to how the new system will work:

• Some GPs will be able to diagnose adult ADHD and approve starting ADHD medication. These will only be the small number of GPs who have capacity to undertake extensive ADHD training, usually unpaid in their evenings / weekends. They are likely to have significant waitlists to undertake these detailed assessments (while they will often also continue to manage their existing workload). 
• The criteria and thoroughness of assessment will stay the same – it will still require 1-2 hours of interview & assessment time over several weeks, and include seeking information from parents and / or other family members.
• There has been no funding announced for this, and it will sit outside General Practice’s existing subsidies. The cost for GP ADHD diagnostic assessment and starting treatment is likely to be $1000 – $2000 (regardless of community services card CSC status).  
• Complex cases (such as people with other pre-existing mental health conditions & substance dependance) may still require private referral to a psychologist / psychiatrist to undertake assessment and make a diagnosis & treatment plan.
• Selwyn Village Healthcare is unclear yet whether we will be able to provide this service in-house (or what the fees / waitlist might be), or whether we will refer patients to another GP clinic. 
• We will no longer be able to arrange for medication approval to happen funded through the public health system.

At any stage: 

• Psychiatrists (Doctors who specialise in mental health) who have expertise in ADHD will always be able to make a diagnosis and start treatment. The public system does not have the capacity to fund this service, and so must all be done in private. It can be hard to find psychiatrists who do these assessments, they often also have long waitlists and high fees.
• You can find psychiatrists online yourself who offer ADHD assessment, and enquire about joining their waitlist. We don’t have any additional tools to know who has availability.

We will try and keep our patients updated through our website as more information becomes available. 

Selwyn Village Healthcare will be shut for the Canterbury show day public holiday on Friday 14 November. We reopen with our usual hours from Monday 17 November

For General Practice needs during this period we recommend using www.AfterhoursGP.co.nz who offer scheduled GP appointments during evenings, weekends, and public holidays. You can also call the national phone healthline Whakarongorau on 0800 611 116 for health triage and advice.

You can also attend any of Christchurch’s urgent care walk-in services – eg. Christchurch hospital Emergency Department, Riccarton Clinic, Moorhouse Medical, Pegasus 24 Hour Surgery.

Selwyn Village Healthcare will be shut for the Labour day public holiday on Monday 27 October. We reopen with our usual hours from Tuesday 28 October.

For General Practice needs during this period we recommend using www.AfterhoursGP.co.nz who offer scheduled GP appointments during evenings, weekends, and public holidays. You can also call the national phone healthline Whakarongorau on 0800 611 116 for health triage and advice.

You can also attend any of Christchurch’s urgent care walk-in services – eg. Christchurch hospital Emergency Department, Riccarton Clinic, Moorhouse Medical, Pegasus 24 Hour Surgery.

Selwyn Village Healthcare will be shut for the Matariki public holiday on Friday 20th June. We reopen with our usual hours from Monday 23rd June.

For General Practice needs during this period we recommend using www.AfterhoursGP.co.nz who have scheduled GP appointments available on evenings, weekends, and public holidays. You can also call the national phone healthline Whakarongorau on 0800 611 116 for health triage and advice.

You can also attend any of Christchurch’s urgent care walk-in services – eg. Christchurch hospital Emergency Department, Riccarton Clinic, Moorhouse Medical, Pegasus 24 Hour Surgery.

Selwyn Village Healthcare will be shut for the King’s Birthday public holiday on Monday 2nd June. We will reopen with our usual hours from Tuesday 3rd June.

For General Practice needs during this period we recommend using www.AfterhoursGP.co.nz who have booked GP appointments available on evenings, weekends, and public holidays. You can also call the national phone healthline Whakarongorau on 0800 611 116 for health advice.

You can also attend any of Christchurch’s urgent care walk-in services – eg. Christchurch hospital Emergency Department, Riccarton Clinic, Moorhouse Medical, Pegasus 24 Hour Surgery.

This week week 22 – 24 April 2025 workers at Awanui labs (previously Southern Community Labs) are striking, and most community laboratory services will be unavailable. We will be unable to send lab specimens for testing.

We will be unable to provide cervical screening, sexual health checks, and biopsies – please defer these appointments until after the strike. This may also affect our ability to provide the best standard of care, when laboratory testing would usually have been recommended (eg. sending swabs / urine samples for testing).

Urgent testing may still be available (on discussion with our GPs & nurses), and Canterbury Health Labs will still be open for blood testing for those who wish to attend Christchurch Hospital (in the outpatients building).

We expect normal lab services to resume the following week (28th April).

Thanks in advance for your patience.

Selwyn Village Healthcare will be shut for the ANZAC public holiday on Friday 25th April. We will reopen with our usual hours from Monday 28th April.

For General Practice needs during this period we recommend using www.AfterhoursGP.co.nz, who provide booked appointments outside our opening hours, or calling the national phone healthline Whakarongorau on 0800 611 116 for advice.

You can also attend any of Christchurch’s urgent care walk-in services (Christchurch hospital Emergency Department, Riccarton Clinic, Moorhouse Medical, Pegasus 24 Hour Surgery).

Selwyn Village Healthcare will be shut for the Easter public holidays on Friday 18th April and Monday 21st April. We will reopen with our usual hours from Tuesday 22nd April.

Please arrange appointments and prescription requests early so you don’t miss out.

For General Practice needs during this period we recommend using www.AfterhoursGP.co.nz, who provide booked appointments outside our opening hours, or calling the national phone healthline Whakarongorau on 0800 611 116 for advice.

You can also attend any of Christchurch’s urgent care walk-in services (Christchurch hospital Emergency Department, Riccarton Clinic, Moorhouse Medical, Pegasus 24 Hour Surgery).

We are pleased to now offer the 2025 annual influenza (flu) vaccine (Influvac Tetra) to our enrolled patients. Vaccination is an important step in protecting yourself and those close to you from the flu virus.

Why Get Vaccinated?

• Up to 10% of non-vaccinated people become unwell with flu each year, which can sometimes be life-threatening. The flu vaccine usually halves the chance of catching the flu.
• It reduces the severity and length of symptoms if you do catch the flu.
• It helps prevent the spread of flu to others.
• You contribute to community protection, safeguarding those who are most vulnerable.
• Each year there are different strains of flu virus in our community; the vaccine is targeted against the year’s most likely flu strains. Previous year’s vaccines don’t always protect you from this year’s flu strains.

What are the downsides?

• Sometimes people have irritating side effects (eg. headache or sore arm) for a few days, which are usually mild.
• Serious reactions are extremely rare. Anaphylaxis (allergy) occurs about once out of every million doses given.

What are the costs?

• Influenza vaccination is fully funded (no charge) for those aged 65+, during pregnancy, and for many chronic health conditions (full criteria listed here).
• For all others there is a $30 fee for vaccination.

How do I get it?

• We provide flu vaccination as a walk-in service for our patients, no appointment needed.
• To reduce waiting times it is best to come down between 9-11am weekdays

What about kids?

• Influvac Tetra is available for anyone over 6 months old.
• A second dose is recommended 4 weeks later if a child has never received flu vaccine before.
• Please call and book a nurse appointment for children (rather than walk-in).

Click here for more information on this years flu vaccine.

We are delighted to announce that Dr Kim Nordmeier has now started her maternity leave. Join us in offering her our kindest congratulations. 

We continue actively looking for a new GP to cover Kim’s leave. In the meantime please feel free to book with any of our other great GPs, and a reminder that our Nurse Prescriber can also assess and manage many conditions and prescribe most medicines. 

Thanks for your kind support and understanding.

Selwyn Village Healthcare

We would like to remind all patients that all our fees are due on the day. Prompt payment ensures the smooth operation of our services and allows us to continue providing the highest quality care.

Overdue Account Processing Fee
We will now be charging $7.50 each month for all accounts that are in debt.

Automatic Payment Exemption
To assist those who prefer a streamlined payment process, we are currently waiving this fee for patients who have established fortnightly or monthly automatic payments, but are not yet in credit.

Questions or Concerns?
We understand that managing finances can sometimes be challenging. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your account or payment options, please contact our friendly reception team.

Next week 24 – 27 March 2025 APEX union members at Awanui labs (previously Southern Community Labs) are striking, and most community laboratory services will be unavailable for the week. We will be unable to send lab specimens for testing.

We will be unable to provide cervical screening, sexual health checks, and biopsies – please defer these appointments until after the strike. This may also affect our ability to provide the best standard of care, when laboratory testing would usually have been recommended.

Urgent testing may still be available (on discussion with our GPs & nurses), and Canterbury Health Labs will still be open for blood testing for those who wish to attend Christchurch Hospital (in the outpatients building).

We expect normal lab services to resume the following week (31st March)

We will be closed this Thursday 6th February for the Waitangi day public holiday. We reopen Friday 7th February with our usual hours.

Selwyn Village Healthcare will be shut from Wednesday 25th December, reopening Monday 6th January 2025.

Please arrange appointments and prescription requests early so you don’t miss out.

For General Practice needs during this period we recommend using www.AfterhoursGP.co.nz, who provide booked appointments outside our opening hours, or calling the national phone healthline Whakarongorau on 0800 611 116 for advice.

You can also attend any of Christchurch’s urgent care walk-in services (Christchurch hospital Emergency Department, Riccarton Clinic, Moorhouse Medical, Pegasus 24 Hour Surgery).

Have a nice summer break – we look forward to seeing you back in 2025

From today (Monday 19 August) our fees have increased; please see our fees page for full details.

We have kept these changes as low as we can. Patient fees help us to maintain a quality service; we appreciate your understanding.

Unfortunately Te Whatu Ora / Ministry of Health have recently removed all funding for patients with COVID-19, including for consideration / prescribing of antivirals.

Our usual fees apply for all services related to COVID-19, including antiviral prescribing. The antiviral medication itself remains funded, with normal pharmacy copayments.

Click here for further information and to see if you’re eligible for COVID-19 antivirals.

If you’d like to discuss starting COVID-19 antivirals please book a phone consultation, or call us from 8:30 – 10:30 weekdays to talk with the clinician in our morning urgent care clinic.

Stay well
Selwyn Village Healthcare

We will be closed this Friday 28th June for the Matariki public holiday. We reopen Monday 1st July with our usual hours.

We will be closed next Monday 3rd June for the King’s Birthday public holiday. We reopen Tuesday 4th June with our usual hours.

We will be closed this Thursday 25th April for the ANZAC public holiday. We reopen Friday 26th April with our usual hours.

Need an appointment fast? ⏰ Our Nurse Prescriber Georgina, can assess your health needs, diagnose common conditions, and prescribe from a list of medications for issues like:

• Infections
• Skin conditions 🩹
• Contraception
• And more!

Benefits of seeing a Nurse Prescriber:

• Convenient: Easier to schedule appointments. ✅
• Accessible: Manage common health concerns.

Is a Nurse Prescriber right for you? See our information page for more details

#Christchurch #NursePrescriber #Healthcare #Convenience

We’re excited offer this year’s flu vaccine Influvac Tetra from today; fully funded for many of our patients, only $30 for those who aren’t eligible for flu vaccine funding.

Please walk-in between 8:30am – 11:30am weekdays for flu vaccination; please don’t call to book unless it is for a young child that will need extra time.

Our team will be working hard to get as many people as we can vaccinated to help stay well for winter.

We’re currently expecting to be able to provide influenza vaccination from early April. Watch this space – we will post on here as soon as we can confirm the details.

We will be closed for the easter public holidays this upcoming weekend. We will be shut from Friday 29th of March, and reopen with our usual hours from Tuesday 2nd April. Enjoy the holiday!