Arranging appointments

We have a thorough triage process to ensure that we are a good fit for a client.  

Funding needs to be confirmed before we are able to accept a referral for triage.  For ACC clients, this means that the referral needs to come directly from ACC to ensure our services are covered.

For health insurance or privately funded clients, information on costs is here.

Once funding is confirmed, a pre-triage form will be sent to the client to provide additional background information, and we ask that the client review this website to ensure that our approach fits with their expectations.  When the form is received back, this and the referral is sent to our specialists for triage.  This process can take up to month or more.

If the referral is accepted, our administrative team will then be in touch to arrange an appointment time.  A text message reminder will be sent 1 day prior to your appointment.

Waiting times for initial assessments can be many months due to high demand and limited capacity.  If our waiting times are too long, we may decline referrals for a period of time.

What to expect from your initial assessment

We aim to understand your pain and how it is affecting your life, and so we begin with a comprehensive pain assessment. This is tailored to the needs of the individual client, and may be affected by the funding mechanism available.  It may be specialist only, or a multidisciplinary team, depending on what the specialist has recommended from the triage.


For specialist only assessments, the appointment may be 60-120 mins depending on complexity.  The specialist will also spend a number of hours (depending on complexity) reviewing medical documentation and investigations, communicating with other clinicians, and preparing a report.  You may also be offered a nursing pre-assessment to ensure we have sufficient information prior to the specialist appointment.


Sometimes the assessment process requires further investigations and additional followup appointments before management recommendations can be made.


For multidisciplinary assessments (available to ACC clients with funding approval for our tertiary service), these may take place all in one day or may be spread over several weeks depending on clinician availability, and what is appropriate for the client.


To make the most of our time with you, we may ask you to complete questionnaires prior to the assessment. This does help make our assessments more efficient, and for those seen under ACC collects data that ACC requires from us.

If you have any questions about this or have difficulty completing questionnaires please let us know.


Our patient privacy statement is here


We appreciate the following:

Medication

Bring a list of medications to the appointment

Information

Bring along any other information that you think may help

Clothing

Wear loose clothing that will allow exposure of arms and legs. We have short and shirts to use if required

Appointment Time

Please be on time - we generally run to time

Appointment Length

Please allow plenty of time. An initial assessment can take up to 2 hours

Support

You are welcome to bring along partners, whanau, and friends. They are able to join you in the consultation if you would like

Follow up appointments

These are typically 30-45min, and will either be at the clinic in Christchurch or via telemedicine where this is appropriate. A text reminder will be sent 1 day prior to the appointment.

Cancellations

Please let us know as soon as possible if you are unable to attend your scheduled appointments. Please be aware that late cancellations may incur a fee for the funder, such as ACC. Repeated late cancellations may mean that we are unable to offer further appointments.

Conduct

Our team includes all of our clinicians and administrative staff, and we aim to provide an understanding and welcoming environment for our patients. We understand that many of our patients may have been suffering for a long period of time, but we do not accept inappropriate, aggressive or disrepectful behaviour.

Transport options and parking

There is limited parking for Level 2 patients/visitors at 40 Stewart Street with no guarantee of a parking spot being available for the time of your appointment. There is one designated disabled parking spot. Please plan to come early in case you need to park elsewhere and walk, or make an alternative transport plan in advance of your appointment day. Some options are listed below.
  • Uber or Taxi (ACC patients please speak to your recovery coordinator about funding transport)
  • Bus to Christchurch Hospital and walk to 40 Stewart Street

Paid Parking Options: 
  • Use “Parkmate” app or “Pay and Display” at a Wilson carpark and walk to 40 Stewart Street. Wilson Parking New Zealand 
  • Download and use “Parkable” app to reserve a car park and walk to 40 Stewart Street 
  • Closest car parks are 106 Harman Street, Addington (located at 14 Hazeldean Rd) which uses the Parable app, or 3-9 Hazeldean Road which uses the Parkmate app.