Question 1

Current wait times

Accepted Answer

Our current wait times are different for each clinician but in general our current wait times for initial assessments are:

General Psychiatry Assessments: 6-12 weeks

ADHD Psychiatry Assessments: 12-16 weeks

Psychology Assessment: 4-6 weeks

Question 2

What is a psychiatrist?

Accepted Answer

A Psychiatrist is a medically trained doctor who has also completed 5 years further training, specialising in mental health.  They are specialised in the assessment and management of mental health issues and often work in collaboration with other mental health professionals.  Psychiatrists are able to prescribe medication and do therapy.

Question 3

What is a clinical psychologist?

Accepted Answer

Clinical psychologists train for a minimum of 7 years at university and are able to assess, diagnose and treat people with mental health issues and psychological difficulties.  They are specialised in learning about how people's feelings, actions, beliefs, and experiences affect the way they live and to help people make changes in their life.  Clinical psychologists base treatment on scientific evidence. Practising clinical psychologists are registered with the New Zealand Psychologist's Board.

Question 4

What type of therapy do we practise?

Accepted Answer

Our practitioners offer a range of scientifically validated psychological therapies depending on each person's struggles.  These include:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) which focuses on identifying and changing a person's negative thought patterns and behaviors to help develop healthier thought patterns and coping strategies.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) which helps people to open up to accept their difficult thoughts and feelings rather than avoid them, while committing to actions aligned with personal values to help live a meaningful life.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a type of CBT that combines behavioral science with mindfulness and acceptance strategies to help individuals regulate emotions, improve interpersonal relationships, and tolerate distress.

Question 5

What ages do we see?

Accepted Answer

Mostly we see adults aged 18 years and over.  We also can offer psychological treatment to adolescents aged 13 years and older depending on the difficulties the person is experiencing.

Question 6

Do I need a referral from my doctor?

Accepted Answer

To see a psychiatrist, a referral from your GP is required even if you have been a client/patient with any other provider.

To see a clinical psychologist a referral is not essential but is always helpful.

Please note that it may take up to 4-6 weeks from the time your referral is received or from your initial enquiry until you are contacted regarding an appointment date.

Question 7

Can I get a repeat prescription?

Accepted Answer

If you are currently under the care of a Psychiatrist at Christchurch PsychMed you may be able to request a repeat prescription.

Please check out the Terms of Agreement by reading the text below.

Alternatively you can click on the document below to access this information.

You should only order a repeat prescription if you agree to these terms.

Important things to check with your pharmacy before ordering a repeat prescription:
Before ordering a repeat prescription please contact your pharmacy to:
ensure you have no repeats remaining on the medication(s) you are requesting a repeat prescription for.
For stimulant medication:
confirm the date that you are eligible to pick up your next prescription (you will need to provide this date when you email through your script request). 
ensure that the pharmacy has the medication you are requesting in stock.   
Controlled scripts are only valid for 7 days from date of issue, so please remember to take your script to the pharmacy within 7 days of issue.  Scripts that need to be reissued will be charged for.

How to order a repeat prescription
You can order a repeat prescription by clicking here to access our repeat prescription request form.

To successfully submit the form you will need to provide the following information:

Your full name
Your date of birth
The name of the Psychiatrist you see at Christchurch PsychMed
The medications you need a repeat of and the dosage required
The name of the pharmacy you would like your script sent to
If you are requesting stimulant medication you will also need to provide:
the date that you are eligible to pick up your next prescription (your pharmacist will be able to tell you this)
confirmation that you have checked that your pharmacy has stock of the medication you are requesting

Please allow 3-5 days for your script to be sent.
The cost of a repeat prescription is $55 and this fee must be paid on the day your script is sent.

Christchurch Psych Med Terms of Agreement for Requesting Repeat Prescriptions without a clinical consultation.

1. Purpose
This document outlines the terms and conditions under which patients of Psychiatrists working out of the Christchurch PsychMed Clinic may request and obtain repeat prescriptions. By requesting a repeat prescription, you acknowledge and agree to these terms.

2. Eligibility for Repeat Prescriptions
Repeat prescriptions are available only to existing patients who have been assessed and prescribed medication by one of the ChCh PMed Psychiatrists and whose usual clinician is available. 
Patients must be enrolled with a GP practice. 
Patients must be clinically stable on their current medication and under ongoing care with the clinic.
The psychiatrist must determine that a repeat prescription is clinically appropriate without the need for an in-person or virtual consultation.

3. Eligibility for Repeat Prescriptions if usual clinician is not available
In circumstances where repeat prescriptions are requested by an existing patient whose usual clinician is not available and the GP is not able to prescribe it may be possible to request a prescription by a different clinician at Christchurch PsychMed.

Please note that there is an expectation that patients will have approached their GP for this script before requesting this from a ChCh PMed Clinician.

The decision for a ChCh PMed clinician to prescribe is decided on a case by case basis and in this situation:
Patients must also be enrolled with a GP practice. 
Patients must be clinically stable on their current medication and under ongoing care with the clinic.
The psychiatrist must determine that a repeat prescription is clinically appropriate without the need for an in-person or virtual consultation.
Additional charges for an assessment by the willing clinician may apply
Additional charges for repeat prescriptions may apply
Prescriptions with a very limited supply of medications may be given

4. Prescription Request Process
Requests must be made via the clinic’s approved methods (e.g., email, phone or website enquiry).
Please allow 3–5 business days for processing. Urgent requests may incur an additional fee and are not guaranteed.
The clinic reserves the right to decline any repeat request if a follow-up consultation is deemed necessary or if any of the eligibility criteria outlined in section 2 or 3 are not met.

5. Prescription Fees
Fees applies for all repeat prescriptions. Current prices can be found at https://www.christchurchpsychmed.co.nz/helpful-info.      
Repeat prescriptions will not be issued if a patient has any outstanding fees.  
Fees are non-refundable once the prescription has been issued.

7. Medication Safety and Monitoring
It is your responsibility to ensure medication is taken as prescribed.
Regular reviews (typically every 3–6 months) are required. Failure to attend scheduled reviews will result in the suspension of repeat prescriptions.

8. Lost or Stolen Prescriptions
Patients must be responsible for the safekeeping of their prescriptions and      medications. Replacement prescriptions for lost or stolen prescriptions for stimulant medication will not be provided.
Requests for replacement of lost or stolen prescriptions for other medications may incur an additional fee.
The clinic may refuse to reissue certain prescriptions without further assessment.

9. Pharmacy Dispensing
Prescriptions can be sent to your nominated pharmacy. It is your responsibility to provide accurate and up-to-date details.
Patients must be responsible for the timely fulfilment of their prescriptions at their preferred pharmacies.

10. Patient Responsibilities
By requesting a repeat prescription, you agree to:
Inform the clinic of any changes in your health, medication side effects, or concerns.
Attend scheduled follow-up appointments.
Use the medication only as prescribed and not share it with others.

11. Clinic and Clinician Rights and Discretion
The clinic or individual clinician reserves the right to amend these terms at any time.
Prescriptions are issued at the discretion of your treating psychiatrist, who may decline to provide repeats based on clinical judgement, legal requirements, or ethical considerations.

10. Complaints and Concerns
If you have concerns or complaints about your prescription or the service received, please contact the clinic directly. You may also lodge a complaint with the Health and Disability Commissioner (www.hdc.org.nz) if necessary.

By requesting a repeat prescription, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to abide by the above terms.

To find out how to order a repeat prescription click here.

Question 8

How many times will I need to be seen?

Accepted Answer

This varies for each person depending on individual situations.  During your initial appointment a treatment plan will be discussed and this could include an estimate of how many sessions may be required and how often you may need to attend.

Question 9

Who should I contact in a crisis?

Accepted Answer

As we are not an emergency service your first point of contact should be your local Emergency Mental Health Team who provide 24 hour emergency and after hours psychiatric care.

Please call the Emergency Mental Health Team on 0800 920 092 if you are in the Canterbury area.

If you are outside of Canterbury go to the following website to find the phone number of your local Crisis Service - https://info.health.nz/mental-health/crisis-assessment-teams.

For non-urgent afterhours support, we suggest you contact the 1737 helpline.

Other support information can be found here https://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/get-help/in-crisis/helplines/

Question 10

Late cancellation policy

Accepted Answer

Appointments that are unattended or cancelled with less than 1 full working/business days notice will be charged for.  This fee is generally the cost of the appointment.

Please note if you are more than 10 mins late for an appointment your appointment will be cancelled and a cancellation fee will apply.

Question 11

What are our fees?

Accepted Answer

All fees listed are indicative only.  Fees may vary according to individual need.  All fees include GST.

Payment is due at the time of your appointment, unless a prior arrangement has been made.  A $20.00 administration fee may be added to accounts not paid at the time of consultation. Please note if you are more than 10 mins late for an appointment your appointment will be cancelled and a cancellation fee will apply.

Psychiatry
General
Initial Assessment up to 90 minutes               		$750
Initial Assessment up to 120 minutes			$1000
Initial Assessment up to 150 minutes                      	$1230

up to 90 minute follow up                                     		$750
up to 60 Minute follow up                                             	$460
up to 30 Minute follow up                                       	$230

ADHD assessments (please refer to our ADHD Helpful Information pages for more explanation)

Initial Assessment up to 90 minutes (without comprehensive psychologist report)       	$1100
Initial Assessment up to 120 minutes (without comprehensive psychologist report)       	$1300
Initial Assessment up to 150 minutes (without comprehensive psychologist report)     	$1530

Initial Assessment up to 90 minutes (with comprehensive psychologist report)          	$750-$900
Initial Assessment up to 120 minutes (with comprehensive psychologist report)              	$1000
Initial Assessment up to 150 minutes (with comprehensive psychologist report)              	$1230

ADHD Follow up appointments as above for general psychiatry

Specialty Assessments and Reports - Please contact us for a price estimate.

Prescriptions – out of consultation time                       	      	$55
Renewal of Special Authority – out of consultation time     	$55
Brief correspondence – out of consultation time                 	$55
(e.g. medical certificates, letters of support, travel letters, emails, phone consults)

All our psychiatrists are Easy Claim providers with Southern Cross. If you are a Southern Cross member we are able to apply for funding on your behalf prior to your appointment once we have your membership number.

Psychology
Initial 90 minute consultation      		$355
Standard 50 minute consultation  		$235

Question 12

What are our terms of payment?

Accepted Answer

Unless otherwise agreed, payment is due at time of your appointment.

Payments are accepted in the form of EftPos, credit card (excluding Amex) or cash.  On-line payments are possible with prior arrangement.

Where it is agreed that payment need not be made at the time of your appointment, an administration fee of $20 may be added.

Please note Christchurch PsychMed  may withhold further provision of services where there is an outstanding amount due.

Overdue accounts may incur an additional fee. Unpaid accounts will be passed to our debt collection agency and you will be liable for any collection fees incurred.

Question 13

Opening Hours

Accepted Answer

Our reception area is open from 9am to 4pm Monday to Friday.  If you have an appointment outside of these hours you may  find that the door to our reception area is locked when you arrive for your appointment.  If this happens please knock on the reception door and either wait outside or in your car and your clinician will come out and greet you.

Question 14

Parking at Christchurch PsychMed

Accepted Answer

Parking is available on site at the rear of our building.

Question 15

Christchurch Psychmed Privacy Policy

Accepted Answer

Christchurch PsychMed Privacy and Managing Health Information Policy
Current as of 24/09/23
Reviewed and updated May 2026

Introduction
​
This privacy policy is to provide information to you, our patient/client, on how your personal information (which includes your health information) is collected and used within our practice, and the circumstances in which we may share it with third parties.

Christchurch PsychMed, as a service company that provides room rental and administration and reception services to mental health clinicians operating as independent Private Practitioners, collects relevant information to allow the clinicians within this practice to provide the best care for you. Each clinician within Christchurch PsychMed operates as an independent private practitioner who adheres to the Christchurch PsychMed Privacy Policy and Procedures. Health information that is collected by your clinician may be securely stored within Christchurch PsychMed’s electronic practice management system or as hardcopy information by your clinician. In addition, each practitioner has their own privacy policy that outlines how they maintain the privacy of the information they collect about individual patients/clients.

Why and when your consent is necessary?
​
When you register as a patient/client of Christchurch PsychMed, you provide consent for our clinicians and practice staff to access and use your personal information so they can provide you with the best possible healthcare. Only staff who need to see your personal information will have access to it. If we need to use your information for anything else, we will seek additional consent from you to do this.

Why do we collect, use, hold and share your personal information?
​
Our practice will need to collect your personal information to provide healthcare services to you. Our main purpose for collecting, using, holding and sharing your personal information is to manage your welbeing. We use demographic information for directly related business activities such as booking appointments financial claims and payments, and business processes (e.g. staff training).
​
What personal information do we collect?
​
The information we collect about you includes your:
names, date of birth, addresses, contact details
medical information including medical history and medications
NHI number when necessary
health insurance details when necessary.

How do we collect your personal information?
​
Our practice may collect your personal information in several different ways.
When we receive a referral from your GP or other referrer requesting for you to be seen by a clinician at this practice we collect your personal and demographic information contained in this referral. We may also correspond with the referrer asking them to provide additional information to assist our triage process. This might include information about previous psychiatric assessment or treatment you have had, the context leading to the need for this referral and the results of laboratory, radiology or other tests etc.
When you make your first appointment our practice staff will collect your personal and demographic information through the registration process.
We may also collect your personal information when you visit our website, send us an email, SMS, or telephone us.
Any email correspondence that you send to us, or that others send to us about you, will also be held electronically. 
By accepting health care services from us, you agree we can collect information about you from other agencies for the purpose of maintaining an up-to-date health record and providing safe and quality primary health care. This may include:
​
From other health providers and shared health records:
Receipt of laboratory, radiology or other results
Accessing authorised national or regional health information systems to support your care by checking your medical history, laboratory or radiology results and current prescribing
Receipt of correspondence from hospitals, emergency departments, after-hours providers, specialist services, allied health providers or other secondary and community care providers – including discharge summaries, outpatient or specialist letters
Proactively contacting a hospital or specialist service to follow up on a referral or seek advice or an update on your care, where that contact results in information about you being shared with us

From non-health agencies and organisations:
Contact from or correspondence with Police, legal representatives, New Zealand Defence Force/Veterans Affairs, insurance companies, Ministry of Social Development (Work and Income New Zealand) and the Accident Compensation Corporation
Receipt of correspondence from employers, regarding, for example, fitness to work
Information from the New Zealand Police regarding firearms licences​

When, why and with whom do we share your personal information?

We sometimes share your personal information:
when it is required or authorised by law (e.g. court subpoenas)
when it is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to a patient’s life, health or safety or public health or safety, or it is impractical to obtain the patient’s consent
to assist in locating a missing person
to establish, exercise or defend an equitable claim
for the purpose of confidential dispute resolution process
if concerns are raised about the care or services we provide, we may disclose relevant health information to our regulators, insurers, indemnity providers, or legal advisers for the purpose of managing and responding to the concerns.

Only people who need to access your information will be able to do so. Our practice will not share personal information with any third party without your consent.

We will not share your personal information with anyone outside New Zealand (unless under exceptional circumstances that are permitted by law) without your consent.

Our practice will not use your personal information for marketing any of our goods or services directly to you without your express consent. If you do consent, you may opt out of direct marketing at any time by notifying our practice in writing.

How do we store and protect your personal information?

Your personal information may be stored at our practice in various forms such as paper records and electronic records within our patient management system.

Our practice stores all personal information securely. Electronic data is stored within password protected and encrypted information technology systems and hard copy documentation is stored within a secured environment including secure filing cabinets. Hard copy files are destroyed using secure destruction methods.

How can you access and correct your personal information at our practice?

You have the right to request access to, and correction of, your personal information.
​
Our practice acknowledges patients may request access to their medical records. We require you to put this request in writing and our practice will respond within 10 working days.
​
Our practice will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information where the information is not accurate or up to date. From time to time, we will ask you to verify that your personal information held by our practice is correct and current. You may also request that we correct or update your information, and you should make such requests in writing to info@christchurchpsychmed.co.nz

How can you lodge a privacy-related complaint, and how will the complaint be handled at our practice?

We take complaints and concerns regarding privacy seriously. You should express any privacy concerns you may have in writing. A complaints form is available from reception. You can access this by emailing info@christchurchpsychmed.co.nz and requesting a complaint form. Your complaint will be managed in accordance with Right 10 of the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights.

Complaints should be emailed to office@christchurchpsychmed.co.nz or addressed to:

Practice Manager,
Christchurch PsychMed,
169 Innes Road,
St Albans,
Christchurch 8052.
Phone. 033561150

Initial receipt of the complaint will be notified via email within 5 working days of receiving the complaint. Please note that all clinicians working at Christchurch PsychMed are independent Private Practitioners. As such, Christchurch PsychMed cannot act on behalf of and is not responsible for the actions of any clinician. We will endeavor, however, to work with you and the clinician concerned to reach a prompt resolution to your issue. If your complaint is about the reception staff then this complaint will be managed by Christchurch PsychMed.

If you are not satisfied with how we have dealt with the complaint, you may contact the Privacy Commissioner at:
​
Privacy Commissioner
Level 13, WHK Tower
51-53 Shortland Street
Auckland 1140
New Zealand
Telephone 0800 803 909
Email enquiries@privacy.org.nz

Privacy and our website

User-Provided Information:
​
You provide us certain information about yourself, such as your name, email address, and other personally identifiable information (all referred to as “Personal Information”) if you fill in any of the forms available on our website. If you correspond with us by email, we may retain the content of your email messages, your email addresses and our responses.

Information Collected Through Cookies and Other Technologies:
​
Cookies are small text files that are downloaded by your computer when you access and use our website. Cookies might be used to analyse user activity in order to improve the Service and Website. Cookies uniquely identify your computer and provide us with your user activity. This activity includes information such as the pages of the Website that you visit, the time and date of the visit, how much time is spent on those pages and other statistics.

Policy review statement
​
This Privacy Statement was last updated in May 2026 and is subject to ongoing review. You may also obtain a copy of this statement by clicking here.
​​​

Question 16

Will my clinician use AI for notetaking or report writing?

Accepted Answer

Some clinicians may use AI scribes for note taking and documentation purposes, if so this will be discussed further with you at the beginning of your appointment.Please see below for an information sheet about Heidi Scribe that may be used by some clinicians:

HELPFUL INFORMATION