Support for patients
Our main role is to protect public health and safety, so all doctors in New Zealand must be registered with us before they are allowed to practise medicine here. Registration in New Zealand means a doctor is trained to provide a high standard of care to their patients. We set and monitor those standards.
As a patient, your health and safety are your doctor's primary concern, and the relationship you have with your doctor should be based on mutual trust, clear communication, honesty and respect. You should feel comfortable and be well-informed at all times, safe in the knowledge that your doctor is fit to practise medicine. If you feel that has been compromised, we will take any notifications seriously.
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Do you want to make a notification about the treatment you have received from a doctor? If you are a patient, or a family member or support person to a patient, you have a number of options.
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Whenever you use a health or disability service in New Zealand, you are protected by the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights (Code of Rights). The Code of Rights applies to both public and private facilities, and to both paid and unpaid services. It gives you as a patient, the right to be treated with respect, receive appropriate care, have proper communication, and be fully informed so you can make an informed choice.
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Whether you're Māori or non-Māori, you are welcome to visit a Māori health provider. What makes their care different from a non-Māori health provider is the kaupapa (principle) and delivery framework, which is distinctively Māori.
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We sometimes require that a doctor has a chaperone present to observe their consultations with patients. We do this to mitigate risk to the patient where there are concerns that the doctor poses a risk of harm or serious risk of harm to the public. This is different from when a chaperone is present as a matter of good medical practice.
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Search the list of doctors registered in New Zealand.
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Our role in protecting the health and safety of the public means we must have firm principles for assessing and managing notifications we receive. These principles include include accountability, trust, independence, consistency and natural justice. This document explains how we apply different principles so that patients and the public in general remain safe and well protected.