Winton Medical Services

26/11/2025

24/11/2025

Dear patients,
We are pleased to share that our Patient Portal will go live on Wednesday 26 November. All enrolled 16+ patients at Winton Medical Centre will receive an email with clear instructions on how to register.

Before registration, we ask a quick favour. The portal allows only one account per email address. If more than one person currently uses the same email, each person will need their own individual email to register. If this applies to you, please create a new personal email and update it with our reception so we can ensure your account activates properly.

If you need help creating an email, here is a short video tutorial that shows how to create a Gmail address
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEwCwKRDpeI

Thank you for your support as we launch this new service for our community! ☺️

28/10/2025

High Risk of a Measles Outbreak

Kia ora everyone, there is an escalating national risk of measles in New Zealand, with cases reported around the country.

Measles spreads very easily through coughing and sneezing, and can be serious—especially for babies, young children, and those who aren’t fully immunised.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Check that you and your family are fully immunised with two doses of the MMR vaccine.

Getting two doses of the MMR vaccine after 12 months of age protects 99% of people from measles

Many adults and born between 1969 and 2004 in Aotearoa New Zealand were not vaccinated against measles.

Adults need to be up to date with MMR vaccinations to protect themselves and their community.
For best protection, 2 doses are needed, a minimum of 4 weeks apart

The MMR vaccine is free for everyone in Aotearoa New Zealand under the age of 18. It does not matter what your immigration status is.

If you are 18 and over, the MMR vaccine is free if you are eligible for funded healthcare in Aotearoa New Zealand.

If you’re unsure, contact us!

Ngā mihi,
Winton Medical Services

23/10/2025

We hope everyone is doing OK after the mad day yesterday! The Medical Centre is open and operating on our generator! Due to the length of time it was running, the diesel supply was pretty low. A massive thank you to CJ Phillips Contracting for coming to fill it up for us!! Also to my big bro for arranging that. I guess I owe you a favour now.....😆…
Mark Jesperson, thank you for sorting our plumbing issues our so quickly – we do greatly appreciate your help!
We are seeing patients – but there may be some delays as we are not fully staffed today. If you can’t wait, we can re-book you.
We are doing blood tests, as the courier that takes them to the lab in Invercargill is running.
If you bring your charging cord down, you can even charge your phone while you are here!
If you can’t get through by phone but are in a position to come down, our nurses can triage you in person today.
Thank you all for your help, support and patience. Please take good care, and we will all keep our fingers crossed the power comes back on soonish.

23/10/2025

Notice: The liquid nitrogen clinic is cancelled today. Please stay home and stay safe

12/10/2025

Dear patients,
We are very close to launching our new Patient Portal (MyIndici).

At the moment, we are testing a few features to make sure everything runs smoothly before releasing it to everyone. The portal will allow you to book appointments, request prescriptions, view test results, and update your details; all in one place!

We will share more information and instructions on how to register once it is ready to go live.

Thank you for your patience and support as we finalise this exciting update for our patients.
-
Winton Medical Services Team

30/09/2025

🌿 Do you need extra practical support with your health and wellbeing? 🌿

Your Community Support Worker at Winton Medical Centre may be able to help — and the service is completely free for Winton Medical patients.

👉 Vivienne can support you with things like:

Linking to local resources and services

Overcoming barriers to care

Support with long-term conditions (exercise groups, nutrition goals, lifestyle changes)

Help if you’re experiencing anxiety, isolation, loss, or trauma

Accessing counselling, Disability Allowance, Community Services Card, or WINZ support

Transport issues – getting to appointments

Accessing hearing tests/aids, glasses, or IT support

Finding a hobby, social group, or community activity

Budgeting support or help accessing food

Learning strength and balance exercises at home

Addressing vaccination barriers or planning an Advanced Care Plan

✨ If you are a patient at Winton Medical, you can self-refer.
📞 Just call the Medical Centre and ask for Vivienne to get in touch.

We’re here to help you take the next step in your wellbeing journey 💙

17/08/2025

Dear patients, I am a bit behind the eight ball sorry, but letting you know that Dr Angel Eads has now left us for big city life in Christchurch. Our original agreement was for her to be with us for 6-12 months and she stayed for 15 months, so that was a bonus.
Dr Ruth Alberts who was filling in for Dr Caroline Stewart finished her time with us, and Dr Stewart is now back from her holiday.
We have a registrar, Dr Steven Muragayah with us for 6 months. Dr Steven is a very experienced doctor, but has now shifted his focus to being a GP. You may be aware that Winton Medical is a training practice. We regularly have student nurses, student doctors and registrars with us. They are overseen by Dr White and Dr Stewart, to get a taste of working in a rural GP practice.
Our other mainstay GPs are Dr Kirsty Thwaites and Dr Aisha Paulose. We really need at least one more full time GP, and have been advertising to no avail. I am now talking to recruitment agencies in the UK and America........
Dr Mike Steiner is with us on a Monday and Tuesday for another month. We have been very grateful to have him for the time we have.
Dr Johnny Vere-Hodge is still filling in some days with us - but is not a regular GP at Winton.
Our shift to our new computer system has gone well. Mostly.... There have been a couple of decent 'hiccups', which we are still working through. Our team have greatly appreciated everyone's patience with us while we navigate the new system. We are definitely picking up speed, and seeing the benefits of shifting! That includes our plan to open up the patient portal soon(ish). Watch this space in September..... (I am confident the space won't be blank like last time! )☺️ We hope this will also help reduce the phone traffic through reception. Unfortunately even with 4 people answering the phones at times, we are still not able to answer all the calls. We know this is frustrating, and we do apologise.
Our books are unfortunately still closed to new patients. With shifting systems, and Drs leaving we just don't have the capacity currently to keep providing appointments to our enrolled patients, and take on new patients. We have managed to keep the wait for a routine appointment to about 2 weeks.
Please book in nice and early if you know you need a medication review with your GP. Otherwise the option is that we can provide a 'bridging script' to hold you over until you can get an appointment.
Take good care, there are still a lot of bugs around at the moment. Our team wish you well for calving and lambing. 🐄 🐑. Merrin.

01/07/2025

A reminder that on Friday 11 July, the Medical Centre will be closed from 12pm. Our computer system will be completely out of action and so no urgent scripts or appointments will be able to occur.
Then from Monday 14 July, we will be running on our new system. Given this is a big undertaking, everything will move a bit (maybe a lot?!) slower than usual for the first wee while. To allow for this we will be running at a reduced capacity for appointments.
What you may find of help, is that from 1 July the government has announced a new 24/7 telemedicine service for if you can't get a GP appointment when you would like/need one. The eight approved online providers funded through this programme are:
▪ Bettr Online
▪ CareHQ
▪ Emergency Consult
▪ MedOnline
▪ Pocket Lab
▪ Practice Plus
▪ Tend
▪ The Doctors Online
Please see info.health.nz/onlineGP for more information, including fees.

Online consultations with registered healthcare professionals are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Subsidies for some people are available.

01/07/2025

1 July 2025

We are very sorry, but we are unable to take new patients, or see casual patients at the moment, (effective immediately). Our capacity to take on new patients will be reviewed monthly, and we will advise on our page when we are in a position to re-open to new and casual patients.

• Please contact Well South on their enrolments line; 0800 478 256 for assistance with enrolment options.
• Invercargill after-hours is currently provided at Te Hau o Te Ora general practice on Clyde Street. 6.00-9pm on weekdays and 12-4pm on weekends and public holidays. Please call 0800 456 138 to arrange an appointment.
• If you live in Winton (or near surrounds) or are visiting someone here, you may be eligible to use the Ka Ora After Hours Rural Telehealth Service.
Ph 0800 252 672 or visit their website kaora.co.nz
• You can also visit info.health.nz/onlinegp for more information on the new government supported Online 24/7 Telemedicine Service.
• Or you can contact Healthline on 0800 611116

See Facebook: /wintonmedicalservices for more updates.

Online consultations with registered healthcare professionals are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Subsidies for some people are available.

22/06/2025

Dear patients, changes are afoot at Winton Medical Centre. We are implanting a whole new Practice Management (Computer) System which is a bit of a job as you would expect!
Wednesday and Thursday 25+26 June, the staff are having intensive training on the new system, so we will be running a bit light for appointments with both doctors and nurses.
We will be completely closed on Friday 11 July from 12pm. If you have a medical emergency over this time, please call 111 for an ambulance, or go to A and E at Southland Hospital.
From Monday 14 July we will be running on the new system which is called indici.
We will appreciate your patience while the team get up to speed using indici. At the start it will likely take us all a bit longer to do our usual work. We will have less appointments available for a few weeks, but once we get into the swing of it, we hope the improved efficiencies and processes will assist us to better support you.
There is a patient portal that we will launch once we have settled into the new system. Watch this space for the details. (I use this portal at my own GP, and it is easy to use and very useful for requesting repeat scripts, booking non urgent appointments and seeing test results.)
Repeat prescriptions – due to the large volume of repeat prescription requests, please allow us at least 48 hours’ notice to get your request to the pharmacy. If it is a same day request, there will be an additional $10 charge, as we then need to book out more doctor time to get it done.
Dr Angel Eads is leaving Winton at the end of July, to work in Christchurch. Our original plan was for her to be staying 6-12 months, so we have been very lucky that she has extended her time with us to well over 12 months.
Dr Ruth Alberts will finish her 3 months with us on 18 July. We have been grateful to have her with us to cover while Dr Stewart has a well-deserved holiday! Dr Stewart will be back on deck early August. (She will need to learn our new system when she is back, so will have less appointments available for a few weeks)
From 28 July, we will have Dr Steven Murugayah (Registrar) with us for 6 months.
We are still enrolling new patients if they meet our criteria – live in the Winton area and either; not have a GP in Southland, or have an immediate family member enrolled with us.
With kind regards, Merrin and the team at WMS.