February 2025 Update

Saturday Clinic closing effective 15th March 

Due to ongoing pressures faced by General Practice we are no longer able to offer our Saturday morning clinics and have made the difficult decision to close it permanently, effective 15th March.

This decision was not made lightly, but after careful consideration, it has become clear that we can no longer sustain the clinic on Saturdays. We remain committed to providing you with high quality care during our regular weekday hours and are looking at options to extend our weekday opening times.

Our nearest after-hours clinics are :

• Northwest Medical Centre

• Westgate Medical Centre 

• Whitecross Henderson. 
  

New Team Members

We’re thrilled to introduce Dr Kate Richardson to the HFD team. Kate initially completed a degree in Public Health at The University of Auckland before going on to complete her medical degree. Kate trained for 3 years as a Radiology Registrar before making the switch to General Practice after her daughter was born. Kate enjoys all aspects of General Practice and has special interests in women’s, youth and child health. Kate works Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.



Dr Deshika is returning from Maternity leave in mid April on a part time basis, we look forward to welcoming her back. 



Dr Alice Vermunt is going on Maternity leave in March and will be returning in the first half of 2026, we wish her all the best.

Macherie Cooper has joined us as our new Health Coach this month. Consults with Macherie are fully funded with no patient co-pay. Sessions generally last 30 minutes and focus on pressing issues. They will include goal setting or agreed plans for improvement. Macherie works Tuesday and Wednesday.



GP Appointments

"To ensure you receive the best possible care, we encourage you to book a 30-minute appointment for multiple or complex health concerns (Note: an additional fee applies for longer appointments). We appreciate that when we run late it affects your day and we acknowledge the effort you have made to be on time for your appointment and thank you for this.



If you arrive with multiple health concerns and there isn’t enough time to discuss them all in a standard 15 minute appointment, we may ask you to schedule another appointment



Zero Tolerance Policy: We’re committed to a safe and respectful environment for everyone. Misconduct or abusive behaviour directed at our staff will not be tolerated and may result in dis-enrolment.



Accounts & Outstanding Balances: We appreciate your understanding that payment for your consultation is due on the day of your appointment.

AI use at HFD

As part of our commitment to improving patient care and efficiency, some of our GPs may use AI-assisted tools to support the generation of clinical notes. These tools help streamline documentation, allowing our doctors to focus more on you during consults. The AI tool is used only for generating notes; it does not make diagnoses or treatment recommendations.



Please be assured that all AI-generated notes are reviewed and verified by our healthcare professionals to ensure accuracy and quality.



If you have any questions or concerns about this, please feel free to speak with your GP or the practice staff.