The Wellington Local are pleased to announce members can now book Blood Screening and Health Checks by agreement with 2 providers. The local has been working very hard to find providers to undertake these comprehensive and potentially life-saving checks for our members.
The following providers have been confirmed to date:
- Capital Care - 35 Tennyson Street, Te Aro - admin@capitalcare.org.nz
- Onslow Medical Centre – 125 Moorefield Road, Johnsonville - admin@omc.co.nz
The testing is very comprehensive and not all practices have the capability to provide ALL the testing that is required. It is recommended Blood Screening and Health Checks are undertaken annually, however for members aged 50 and over it is highly recommended the checks are undertaken annually.
We are still investigating providers for the Hutt and Porirua/Kapiti Coast areas.
It is strongly recommended that you are signed up to the Protect income protection/life insurance policy before undertaking any blood-screening and health checks.
The process is roughly the same for both Capital Care and Onslow Medical Centre:
- Complete the downloadable casual patient form for either Capital Care or Onslow Medical Centre.
- Email the casual patient form to the practice of your choice (as per email address above) or drop off the form in person – you will then be considered a casual patient of the practice.
- Once the casual patient form has been processed, call the practice, and request a booking for the Firefighter blood screen and health check.
- The practice will text/call you once they have sent the lab forms through to Awanui Labs. Members can go to any Awanui lab facility for a walk-in appointment for blood screening. This must be completed within a three-month period (the forms expire after 3 months).
- When the results have been received from Awanui labs, the practice will text you to make an in-person appointment with a nurse for a health check. This will be a half hour appointment.
- Either straight after the nurse appointment or at a later date that suits, you will see a Doctor to complete the physical exam and write the report. (In total you need half an hour with the Nurse and half an hour with the doctor – we suggest you book both at the time you make the booking so there is no confusion.
Payment to be made in full by the member at time of Nurse and Doctor consultation. The costings are as follows:
- Capital Care - $250 inc GST
- Onslow Medical Centre - $355 inc GST
The difference in pricings is due to the differences in operating cost between practices.
To make your reimbursement claim, please follow the reimbursement process via this link, ensure you attach your receipt:
https://forms.office.com/r/XuKYVjtzQc
A reminder that you can make a maximum annual claim of up to $250, or a biannual claim of up to $500 as per the Collective Employment Agreement.
Members can still choose to use a different provider, however, to date this has been a difficult and time-consuming process for individuals. You will need to book a consultation with a doctor to discuss the paperwork and process, and proceed from here with the actual testing. Many doctors are not completing the testing required, even after a consultation, as their guidelines are for the general public not firefighters and show many of our members shouldn’t require this testing level of testing. If you choose a different provider we recommend you take all of the following documentation:
https://www.nzpfu.org.nz/media/website_pages/resources/2024-BLOOD-SCREENING-INFORMATION-FOR-GP.pdf
https://www.nzpfu.org.nz/media/website_pages/resources/2024-NZPFU-BLOOD-SCREENING-INFORMATION-FOR-PATIENT-.pdf
https://www.nzpfu.org.nz/media/website_pages/resources/2024-NZPFU-BLOOD-SCREENING-REVIEW-SUMMARY.pdf
https://www.nzpfu.org.nz/media/website_pages/resources/2024-NZPFU-BLOOD-SCREENING-EXAMPLE-FOR-GP.pdf
The local would like to thank members for their patience, we are working hard to find other suitable providers in convenient locations for all members.
The work of Kurt Walsh, Hutch and other committee members cannot be overstated in setting up this process.
If you have any issues/questions with the above process, please make contact with your local committee rep.
In unity
Carlos Dempsey
Wellington Local President/Central Fire Communications NZPFU Rep
