Auckland woman shocked by 'menopause consultation' fee for HRT
Photo:
Unsplash
An Auckland woman charged $300 for a so called " menopause consultation" says she feels denied the medical care she needs.
Carla asked her doctor about hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and said she was shocked by the fee.
She was told she either needed to pay or book up to four regular appointments.
"I mentioned I was keen to hop on HRT and she told me that I would need to make a separate appointment and 'I was like, that's cool, totally fine'," she said.
"She then proceeded to tell me about the menopause clinics that they run and that is three back-to-back appointments at a cost of $300. And the math just didn't math to me ... because each appointment is $70, so 70 times three is not $300, so I didn't really understand how any of it made any sense."
Carla told
Checkpoint
she knew of others prescribed HRT under much simpler circumstances.
"When I said I couldn't afford that, I was told that I would then need to make three to four separate appointments to be prescribed HRT," she said.
"It was just the fact that everyone else I know had been prescribed HRT with just a single appointment. I didn't understand what all the fuss was about."
Carla said a friend of hers had been prescribed by the same doctor late last year and it was just a single consultation.
She said the experience left her feeling "really diminished".
Carla had considered finding a new GP but said leaving her practice of over 30 years would be daunting.
She accepted if a doctor had concerns that would warrant a couple of appointments, but she said a single appointment should be standard practice.
"That's not a problem at all, if it's necessary. But I just don't like this ... it just feels money hungry to me," she said.
Carla said she felt taken advantage of.
"Just the math not mathing with needing three back-to-back appointments and the costs being elevated because it's a menopause appointment," she said.
"I thought in a normal 15-minute consultation with a $70 fee, you got the doctor's expertise. That's what you were buying for that."
Royal NZ College of GPs medical director Luke Bradford said an in-depth menopause assessment does take longer than the standard 15-minute appointment, and many patients benefit from spending extra time discussing their options with their GP.
He said the cost for non-standard appointments like this does vary across practices.
"There are dedicated menopause clinics around NZ that typically charge $290 for initial 45-minute appointment and $120 follow up," he said.
Checkpoint
has asked Carla's medical practice and Health NZ for comment.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
3 hours ago
- RNZ News
The Health Minister Simeon Brown on his plans
Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER The state of the health service has been a constant concern for New Zealanders in recent polling in the face of continuous media reports over staff shortages, lengthy waiting times in emergency departments and an inability to get in to see a GP. The Health Minister, Simeon Brown, took over the portfolio at the start of the year and has already focused heavily on primary health with a planned 24/7 digital health service, so- called performance based funding over and above the annual capitation. He has also targeted elective surgery waiting lists by outsourcing thousands of apparently straightforward operations to private hospitals. But both moves have sparked worries about the implications from health professionals at both the primary and hospital level. Simeon Brown joins Kathryn in the studio to discuss his plans for the health system.
RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
Disability advocates fear more harm from WorkSafe changes after four choking deaths last year
Disability advocates Glenn and Fran Marshall. Photo: RNZ / Tom Kitchin Disability advocates fear recent changes to WorkSafe will lead to more harm to the intellectually disabled after four IHC residents choked to death while in care last year. The government announced on Monday it was shifting the work and safety regulator's priorities from enforcement to advice . Two days earlier, disability advocate Glenn Marshall wrote to WorkSafe urging it to prosecute IDEA Services, IHC's provider arm, over the four choking deaths. The deaths in Taranaki and Auckland were referred by WorkSafe to the Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC) in May, June and July last year, documents released under the Official Information Act reveal. In a statement, WorkSafe said it would continue enforcement where appropriate and sometimes other agencies, including HDC, were better placed to respond. An investigation was launched by Whaikaha, the Ministry of Disabled People , a summary of which was released to disability advocate Jane Carrigan. Made up of audits by Standards and Monitoring Services, the investigation found the deaths happened amid documented failures including staff unfamiliar with or not adhering to Safer Eating and Drinking Plans, concerns raised by staff and families not being listened to, and problems with kitchen layout and understaffing. It also found that in one case a seclusion practice being used by a support worker was a "direct breach" of IDEA Services' contract with Whaikaha, now Disability Support Service. IDEA Services was to review staffing to deliver services safely including at mealtimes, provide evidence that staff could see residents during mealtimes, ensure staff were properly trained in safe eating plans and medication use for de-escalation instead of seclusion, and ensure staff had a better understanding of the restraint policy and the implications of using restraint. Four people choked to death while in IDEA Services' care last year. Photo: Idea Services Marshall said he was alarmed at the changes to WorkSafe because he believed enforcement was critical to compliance. "When you've got six deaths that occur, four of which occurred in a year, all due to negligence regarding vulnerable people, we need enforcement not advice." Last year's deaths were not the first time an IDEA Services resident had choked to death. In December 2020, a 63-year-old woman died after choking on leftover food at an IDEA Services flat on Auckland's North Shore. A WorkSafe investigation found her death was preventable but no one was prosecuted. Her death came two years after a 59-year-old man choked on uncut sausage in another IDEA Services home. In that case, the Coroner found the death was avoidable and referred it to the HDC which found IDEA Services breached his rights. In his letter on Saturday to WorkSafe, Marshall wrote: "These deaths are not isolated tragedies." "They are the predictable result of systemic failure and unsafe practices that have long been raised with government agencies." He implored WorkSafe to prosecute. "If WorkSafe fails to act on five workplace deaths, involving clear evidence of repeated breaches, it would send a chilling and unprecedented signal; that the lives of disabled people in state-funded care do not count. "Such inaction would embolden other providers to treat safety obligations as optional and would severely damage WorkSafe's credibility across all high-risk sectors. If this pattern of fatal neglect, repeated five times, doesn't trigger prosecution, then what ever will?" He said sanctions resulting from WorkSafe prosecutions were often more significant than HDC findings. He pointed to two drowning deaths involving Palmerston North teenager Nathan Booker and Vicki Campbell in Taranaki both of which resulted in hefty fines. Carrigan said it was a sad indictment on the system for those with an intellectual disability that WorkSafe had become a primary identifier of conduct in residential care homes, leading to unnecessary death and harm to its residents. "WorkSafe has been an advocate, a voice of reason, and a prosecutor in many cases where, were it left to our conflicted disability support system and health and disability complaints system, none of the substantive issues would have been identified." Disability advocate Jane Carrigan. Photo: RNZ / Ana Tovey A WorkSafe spokesperson said it would continue enforcement "where appropriate" under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. They said sometimes other government or regulatory agencies also had responsibilities in respect of a sector and were better placed to respond to incidents, including HDC. "WorkSafe is guided by its regulatory approach and by its enforcement decision-making model to decide when it will intervene and to make proportionate decisions, including enforcement decisions, on a case-by-case basis." IHC disability services chief operating officer Joan Cowan said IDEA Services was "deeply sorry and saddened" by the deaths and had been in contact with the families. Cowan said some people with intellectual disabilities had a higher risk of choking and IDEA Services' Safer Eating and Drinking support framework was in place for this purpose, including specialised guidance and support for staff. The framework was updated in 2020 and 2023 and further improvements were planned, she said. After the audit was completed in October 2024 an action plan was put in place and completed, and no further action was required, Cowan said. "We want families and individuals to know that we work hard to provide safe services. This includes a specialist clinical team that provides extra support to our front-line staff. "We also utilise temporary double staffing where we assess that there may be elevated risk following serious incidents." Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden said her thoughts go out to the families who are impacted by the deaths. Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone She said her announcement provided WorkSafe with clear expectations to engage early and to help support businesses, individuals, and providers to manage their critical risks. "This does not change enforcement processes but shifts the focus so that critical risks are managed first and foremost. "The government's intention is that the changes get rid of over-compliance and that the main focus for WorkSafe as New Zealand's regulator is squarely on critical risks. "Too many times, I heard throughout public consultation that businesses, which include providers and workers, feared WorkSafe's punitive actions, which is not conducive to health and safety in the workplace." HDC confirmed it had commenced a commissioner-initiated investigation into the care provided by IDEA Services in relation to the choking fatalities. "We cannot comment further while this investigation is ongoing." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
Live: Power cuts, flood threats as storm hits from Northland to Wellington
Photo: RNZ/Mark Papalii High tide is imminent for the Tauranga-Taupō River and residents are being warned they may need to evacuate if it breaches its banks. Earlier Strong winds have lifted the roof of a house in the Wellington suburb of Newlands to land on a house on another street. The gales followed a night of heavy rain, thunderstorm warnings and strong winds across much of the country. MetService said the downpours across the North Island and parts of the South Island were giving way to snowfall on Wednesday night. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
