The Doctors Silverstream

01/02/2026

📣 12-MONTH SCRIPT LEGISLATION CHANGES

From 1st February 2026 changes to prescribing lengths have come into action, allowing GPs to issue prescriptions up to 12-months in length to some patients, if clinically safe to do so. The decision on the appropriate prescription length will be entirely down to the GP’s discretion on a case-by-case basis but primarily aims at providing easier access to medication for people with long-term, stable conditions.

There are certain prescriptions which cannot be issued more frequently, for example:
▪ Controlled medicines (e.g. opioids, stimulants, etc).
▪ Medications/conditions that require frequent monitoring
▪ Some important points to consider:

Issuing a 12-month prescription comes with an agreement that you must attend at least once per year for a medication review, to check if your medication and/or dosage is still suitable.

Even with a 12-month prescription you cannot collect 12-months’ worth of your medication at once—medicines can still only be collected in 3-month instalments.

All instalments throughout the 12-month period must be collected from the same pharmacy. A 12-month prescription cannot be split between different pharmacies.

Please see the links below for more information on the changes, and what this means for you.
🟢Health NZ’s Increasing Prescribing Lengths factsheet:https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/2025-05/Factsheet%20-%20Increasing%20prescribing%20lengths.pdf
🟢The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners FAQ:https://www.rnzcgp.org.nz/documents/650/12-month_prescription_changes_FAQs_FINAL_2.pdf

01/02/2026

📣 Dear patients, you may be aware of the upcoming ADHD Legislative Changes coming into effect on Monday 2nd February. After extensive discussion with our GP team, we can confirm that The Doctors Silverstream we will not be offering an ADHD assessment clinical service.

As ADHD can be a complex condition that requires additional training and time to diagnose + treat, we are currently unable to provide this service without adding both a significantly heavier workload to our GPs, and a longer wait for routine appointments for our patients.

In the near future we are expecting to receive advice on which practices will be offering these services in the local area, and which we can refer patients to. As normal, all our GPs are still able to make onward referrals to a psychiatric service for ADHD assessment, but this does require an appointment.

🟢 The New Zealand Telepsych Network also offer a self-referral service, information on which can be accessed via this URL: telepsychnetwork.nz/services/adhd-assessment-adult

Kind Regards, The Doctors Silverstream

21/01/2026

📣 SERVICE UPDATE: Dear patients, please be aware that the practice will be closing slightly earlier than normal this evening Wednesday 21 January @ 17:00.

This change will not affect any booked appointments.

Kind regards,
The Doctors Silverstream.

19/01/2026

📣 Dear patients, we're excited to announce that patients of The Doctors Silverstream, The Doctors Muritai + The Doctors Lower Hutt can now book Gender Affirming Medicine consultations with Dr AJ Eckert!

Dr Eckert has on 19 years' experience, including 11 years as a primary healthcare doctors specialising in LGBTQIA+ health, sexual health, and gender affirming healthcare services. This is a supportive, informed consent clinic, taking place at the Silverstream practice, for patients of all ages, identities, and gender expression.

Starting with an initial 60-minute consultation to discuss your individual needs and goals, Dr Eckert can help with:
🏳️‍⚧️ Hormone prescribing + monitoring for both binary and nonbinary people.
🏳️‍🌈 Micro-dosing and lower dose hormone therapy.
🏳️‍⚧️ Assistance with + referral for gender affirming procedures and surgeries.
🏳️‍🌈 Pre- and post-operative gender affirming exams.
🏳️‍⚧️ Pelvic exams + Pap smears.
🏳️‍🌈 PrEP + PEP prescribing.
🏳️‍⚧️ STI + HIV testing.

Currently, appointments for this clinic can only be booked via reception--if you are interested in making a booking, or have any questions, please give the team a call on (04) 527 7376.

Kind regards,
The Doctors Silverstream.

05/01/2026

📝 We’ve introduced an AI-powered tool to help our GPs with clinical note-taking during consultations. This means less time typing and more time focusing on you.

Here’s what you need to know:

✅ Safe and secure – your health information stays private and within the practice
👀 You can ask to see what it writes
🩺 Our healthcare team reviews everything carefully
🚫 AI is not used for diagnosis and doesn’t make clinical decisions

Have a question or want more info? Please ask Reception— we’re here to help.

Prefer we don’t use AI in your consult?

Opt out here: https://www.thedoctors.co.nz/ai-tools-opt-out. Or let us know at the start of your appointment.

05/01/2026

⚠️ Dear patients, as you are probably aware the patient portal Manage My Health had a cyber-security breach over the New Year.

The Doctors Silverstream/Muritai no longer use MMH as our patient portal. There has been no new patient information on the MMH portal after the date we discontinued its use in June 2024.

According to the latest information available the "Health Documents" portion on the portal seems to be the only information that has been accessed.

MMH have advised they will be contacting any affected patients directly; however, their latest updates are available on their website if you are concerned.

https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/news-and-updates/health-new-zealand-working-closely-with-managemyhealth

https://managemyhealth.co.nz/mmh-cyber-breach-update-3-january-2026/

Further to our update issued on 2 January 2026 regarding the cyber security incident we were notified of on 30 December, Manage My Health is providing

24/12/2025

🎄 Wishing you and your whānau a healthy and happy Christmas, from the whole team @ The Doctors Silverstream!

We will be back open with slightly reduced hours from Monday 29th - Wednesday 31st December.

23/12/2025

📣 Dear patients of Dr. AJ Eckert:

Dr. Eckert’s trained therapy dog, Lupík, usually accompanies him during consultations. Lupík (“little wolf” in Czech) is an 11-year-old Schnauzer Cross, who has been by AJ’s side in clinic since he was a 6-week-old puppy—providing comfort, affection, and emotional support to his patients since then!

He is friendly, extremely well-trained, and even has a hypoallergenic coat so he doesn’t shed hair and shouldn’t trigger allergies.

Studies show that the presence of therapy dogs in clinical settings can:
🐶 Improve Cognitive Function + Mental Health
🐶 Improve Mood + Communication
🐶 Lower Blood Pressure
🐶 Boost Staff + Patient Morale
🐶 Promote Interaction and Socialisation
🐶 Help with General Wellbeing

-- If you would prefer Lupík isn’t present during your consultation, all you need to do is let Dr. Eckert know!

Kind regards, The Doctors Silverstream

22/12/2025

🎄 Holiday reminder: plan ahead for repeat prescriptions & appointments 🎄

💊 Repeat prescriptions
Scripts can take up to 72 hours to process. With limited opening hours between Christmas Day and Monday 5 January, please send any repeat prescription requests as early as possible (especially if your medication will run out over this period).

🕒 The Doctors Silverstream holiday hours

Wed 24 Dec 2025: 8am–3pm
Thu 25–Sun 28 Dec: Closed
Mon 29–Tue 30 Dec: 8am–5pm
Wed 31 Dec: 8am–4pm
Thu 1–Sun 4 Jan 2026: Closed
Mon 5 Jan: Normal hours resume

🚑 Need care while we’re closed?
Please visit your nearest after-hours urgent care clinic, or call Healthline on 0800 611 116 for free general health advice. In an emergency, call 111.

22/12/2025

📣 WELCOME DR. AJ ECKERT

Dear patients—We’re very excited to announce that Dr. AJ Eckert has joined our GP team at The Doctors Silverstream!

Joining us from Los Angeles in the United States, Dr. Eckert has over 19 years’ experience in health care, including 11 years as a primary care doctor specialising in LGBTQIA+ healthcare, sexual health, and gender-affirming healthcare services. He previously created and ran the Gender & Life-Affirming Medicine (GLAM) program in Connecticut.

Dr. Eckert is bilingual in English and Czech, and is a classically trained pianist. He enjoys hiking, photography, and all things horror. He is also accompanied in clinic by his trained therapy dog Lupík, who has accompanied him in clinic since he was a puppy!

20/12/2025

📣 FAREWELL DR. MICHAEL CASTILLO

Dear patients—We’re sad to announce that we’re saying goodbye to Dr Michael Castillo in the New Year, with his last clinic day being 23rd January 2026.

Michael has been a valued part of the Silverstream team since early 2023, and will be greatly missed by both patients and staff. We wish Michael + his family all the best for the future and thank him for all his work with us over the past few years! 👋😊

18/12/2025

🩺 Valley Skin Checks are now on-site at The Doctors Silverstream from Mon-Thurs, bringing convenient, professional skin cancer checks closer to home.

Early detection saves lives.

To book, just give them a call on 04 567 1219, visit their website to book online, or visit their reception signposted within The Doctors Silverstream 🌞✨

Expert skin cancer screening services by Valley Skin Checks, offering full assessments, advanced imaging, and personalised skin health care. Book your appointment today.