Winton Medical Services

09/04/2026

Dear patients, a few things of note and hopefully of interest to you!

Flu vaccine
Urgent/same day appointments
Prescription requests
New Permanent GP starting
Sign in tablets

The 2026 Influenza Immunisation Programme starts on 1 April 2026,
and funded vaccines remain available until 31 December 2026.

Eligibility for funded influenza vaccination is funded and available for:
• pregnant people
• people aged 65 years and over
• people aged 6 months to under 65 years with eligible conditions
• children 4 years of age and under who have been hospitalised for respiratory illness or have a history of significant respiratory illness
• people aged 6 months to under 65 years with serious mental health and addiction conditions

If you require an urgent same day appointment, you will be put on our “triage” list. Monday to Friday we have a GP working in the morning calling these patients by phone and either booking them in for an in-clinic appointment, doing a phone consult, or advising the most appropriate treatment path. If a consult is completed with this GP, there is a normal GP fee, or a script fee.

We have noticed an increase in people not answering their phones after requesting a call – if you miss the call, you may miss out on talking to the doctor or nurse as they will need to move on to the next patient.

Prescriptions – we require a minimum of 2 working days’ notice to prepare your script and send the request to the pharmacy. A repeat prescription – is of your usual long term medications only. If you require anything new, or maybe something you got a few years ago and want again– a GP appointment is needed so a doctor can prescribe them.

Also please check at your pharmacy for any ‘repeats’. This is where you ring us and we prescribe say 3 months of medications. The pharmacy may only be able to dispense one month at a time, which means you can go back to the Pharmacy for the next two months and pick up a month at a time.

Good news for us, Dr Steven Murugayah, who was a Registrar with us last year will be joining us as a permanent GP this month working Monday to Thursday. He is keen to gain as much experience as he can from Dr Stewart, Dr White and Dr Paulose! Also from Dr Vere-Hodge who is still a regular locum for us.

Patient Portal – If you have any problems/questions about the portal, please let reception know and we will do our best to help sort it out with you!
Sign in tablets – we need to make sure we know everyone who has arrived for their appointment. Now you can either check in with the reception team, or we know sometimes there is a bit of a line up…..so we have introduced two check in tablets. Located to your left when you come in the front doors.

Thank you, please let us know if you have any questions about this information.

Merrin and the team at Winton Medical

31/03/2026

17/03/2026

A Familiar Face for Generations— Heading Off on New Adventures (we still have her for a while though!)🥰

After more than 30 years of truly dedicated service to our community, we share the news that Dr Caroline Stewart will be leaving Winton Medical Centre at the beginning of October.

Dr Stewart has been a constant and trusted presence in our practice and the Central Southland Community for decades, caring for generations of patients with skill, patience, and genuine commitment. 👩‍⚕️ Her contribution over this time has been significant, and she will be greatly missed by both our team and our patients.

While we are sad to see her go, we also recognise this is very well deserved. After 30+ years of looking after everyone else, it’s probably time she gets a turn!

Dr Stewart is looking forward to some travel, rest, and new adventures—something we are very pleased to see for her. (I have said ‘rest’, but we all know she will be ‘resting’ at full speed! Probably on a bike, or on the golf course!🚵‍♀🏌‍♀)

Please join us in thanking Dr Stewart for her service and wishing her all the very best for the future.

— The Team at Winton Medical Centre

09/03/2026

⚠️ A quick scam reminder
We’ve heard that some people from other Medical Centres, may be receiving phone calls pretending to be from medical centres or patient portals like MyIndici.
The caller may ask for things like your date of birth, NHI number, portal password, or even bank details.
Just to be clear:
🚫 We will never ask for your portal password.
🚫 We will never ring asking for your banking details for portal access.
Sometimes they may also:
• Ask you to download an app or click a link to “fix your account”.
• Claim you must verify your account urgently. This is always a red flag! If you ever feel rushed by someone wanting info – tell them you will need to ring them back. Take some time, verify the phone number, or business calling.
If someone calls and asks for this information, it’s almost certainly a scam.
The safest thing to do is:
1️⃣ Hang up
2️⃣ Call Winton Medical Centre directly if you’re unsure
Your health information is important, and we want to keep it safe.

06/03/2026

👶 One of our GPs is about to get a very important new patient…

From next week Dr Kirsty Thwaites will be swapping consults, prescriptions, and clinic rooms for nappies, night feeds, and a brand new little human, as she heads off on parental leave.

We are absolutely delighted for her and wish her and her family all the very best for this exciting new chapter (and plenty of sleep when possible!).

While Dr Thwaites is away, the rest of our clinical team will be here to help look after her patients and the wider Winton community.

We look forward to welcoming Dr Thwaites back after her parental leave, but in the meantime please join us in wishing her and her family all the very best as they prepare to welcome their newest arrival. 💛

The team at Winton Medical Centre

10/02/2026

We are writing to let you know about an important change to how repeat prescriptions are processed at Winton Medical Services.

From Monday 16 February we will no longer be able to process repeat prescription requests on the same day they are received.

Repeat prescriptions are now being completed by a GP who is not on site and are often actioned in the evening. This change has been made so that our on-site doctors can focus their time on seeing patients face-to-face, rather than being tied up with administrative prescribing.

What this means for you:
• Please allow at least 2 working days for repeat prescription requests.
• The easiest way to request a repeat prescription is via our patient portal.
• If you are running low on medication, contact us early so we can assist. Please take note of when you next require an in person review with your GP and book well ahead.
• Urgent clinical issues should still be discussed with our team. If you are not sure, please call us!

We are also utilising GP triaging most mornings. GP triage means a clinician reviews your request for a same day appointment to make sure you get the right care, at the right time, with the right person — this may include a same-day phone consult, booking an appointment to be seen face to face, booking a virtual appointment, or providing advice. (Usual consult fees apply for all consults).

We appreciate your understanding and support as we work to ensure GP appointments remain available for patients who need to be seen.

05/01/2026

I hope everyone has had a great start to the New Year!
Just a note about the Manage My Health privacy breach - we do NOT use this system for our patient portal. Ours is called myIndici and is a completely different company. One whom I suspect will be going over their own security with a fine tooth comb!
If not on the portal and you would like to be, please contact the Medical Centre and we will get you on board.
With thanks, Merrin

10/12/2025

Dear patients, sorry it’s a long one!

Dr Steven Murugayah has taken some unexpected leave, meaning we had to reschedule a lot of patients who were booked up to Christmas. We genuinely apologise for the inconvenience.

Dr White got stuck on the Milford track for an extra day this week due to flooding. (Yes, he still insists that exercise is good for you! ) Thank you to all the patients we have had to reschedule over the last few weeks. We know shifting your appt is not ideal at all – but…. options are limited at the moment and we appreciate your flexibility.

We will have a new face on reception as we welcome Debbie Jennings from next week.

✨ Important Update About Appointments & Repeat Prescriptions ✨
To create more in-person GP appointments for patients who really need them, we’ve re-introduced Zoom and telephone consults where these are clinically appropriate. This helps us free up space for those who must be seen face-to-face. A lot of new doctors, but we hope to have some regulars from early next year.
🩺 A quick explanation about repeat prescriptions
Before working in General Practice, I assumed repeat scripts were as simple as my GP pressing a button when I called.
In reality, several hours of GP and nurse time every day go into safely reviewing “repeat” medications. Each request takes careful GP review (hospital letters, medication changes and shortages, safety checks — the whole works). It’s a lot!
Only after this careful review can your prescription be sent to your pharmacy.
💊 We are considering not offering same-day script requests.
To protect appointment time for patients who need to be seen, we’ve moved most prescription processing to the evenings, “outsourcing” it to locum doctors.
We’ve asked for two working days’ notice for almost 18 months, but we still receive daily last-minute requests that pull doctors away from patient appointments. Also please remember once the GP has sent the prescription to the Pharmacy, the pharmacy still need time to dispense the medication.
If you ring needing a same-day script, we will refer you to your Pharmacy to discuss an emergency 3 day supply. Please note there are strict regulations about the pharmacy being able to provide this service, it is not for all medications, and there is a cost involved. To help reduce this, anyone calling for a same-day script will be offered support from our Health Coach, who can help with medication planning and keeping on top of repeat requests.
🗓️ 12-Month Prescriptions (Coming February 2026!)
Some patients may be able to move to 12-month prescriptions — but they’re not suitable for everyone. You can chat with your GP about it at your next medication review after February 2026.
For everyone’s safety (and because the law says so), only your GP can approve this. Not reception or nurses. Please respect the team, they are doing all they can to help you.

No matter whether your review is every 3, 6, or 12 months, please book well in advance.
If you get your review done on time, you’ll usually avoid needing a repeat script altogether — a win for you and for us!
🎄 Christmas & New Year Hours
We will only be closed on the official Public Holidays and will remain open on the days in between.
Thank you for your understanding as we work to keep appointments available for those who need them most. We truly appreciate your support. 💙
From everyone at Winton Medical Centre – we wish everyone a safe and enjoyable Christmas and New Year.

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