Enrolling with a RAPHS practice is simple. All you have to do is ask your local medical centre receptionist, doctor or nurse for a enrolment form, fill out the details – name, age, date of birth, address and ethnicity – and sign it. It will take just a few minutes.
The details will help us alert you to health-related programmes and services that might be helpful to your age group or ethnic group. You can also enrol with Health Rotorua PHO at the same time, which allows access to a higher level of funding for visits.
If you have children in your care who are aged 16 years or under, you can enrol them at the same time as yourself. You cannot enrol other members of your whanau or family unless you have their authorisation.
It makes sense to enrol at the practice you visit most often, so it will receive funding for your visits. If you need to make a casual visit to another practice (for example, if you get sick while you are away from home), and you do not hold a Community Services Card, you may be charged the full fee as a casual patient.
Privacy
The privacy of your information collected at enrolment is protected by the Privacy Act 1993 and the Health Information Privacy Code 1994.
Your National Health Index (NHI) number also protects your privacy. It is used to help avoid mix-ups of information for people with the same name and allows health professionals involved in your care to share information without using your name or address.