Whanganui Accident and Medical

Whanganui Accident & Medical (WAM)

06 348 1300

wamfeedback@wamc.org.nz

Next to Emergency Department
Whanganui Hospital
100 Heads Road
WHANGANUI 4500

Whanganui Accident and Medical (WAM) is open

Monday to Sunday (including Public Holidays)

from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm

Whanganui Accident & Medical Clinic (WAM) was established to provide urgent and afterhours healthcare services to the Whanganui community and its visitors. Based at the Whanganui hospital next to the Emergency Department, WAM is ideally located with access and ability to transfer critical patients directly to the ED should the need arise.

Access to WAM is available to everyone, yet we encourage Whanganui locals who are registered with a general practice to contact them in the first instance. WAM is a non-profit organisation whose primary purpose is to ensure that you can access care should you:

Injure yourself
Need to be seen urgently; or
Require medical assistance on the weekends or in the evening when your general practice is closed.

As an urgent care clinic, WAM differs from general practice in that it does not enrol patients or receive funding to provide the same range of services that patients receive at their general practice. If you are enrolled with a General Practitioner, we encourage you to seek non-urgent medical attention with them.

Patients that present at WAM are not seen in the order that they arrive. For safety reasons priority is given to patients that present with the highest medical risk and/or distress. This means that the less urgent your presentation is, the longer you may wait.

If you are new to the area or would like to register with a general practice, please click here for further details on the enrolment process

Accessing WAM

To access services at WAM, please present in person to the reception next to the emergency department (ED). WAM doesn’t operate an appointment service for the initial appointments. Once your appointment has been made, you will be asked to take a seat to await a nurse who will triage you.

Please inform the receptionist immediately if you have any of the following symptoms:

Chest Pain
Breathing Difficulties
Allergic Reactions
Bleeding

Triage

Shortly after you arrive at WAM, a nurse will assess you to determine your medical priority. Depending on the severity of your symptoms or condition, the nurse will refer you to one of the following services:

You will receive a service at WAM (Note: A fee will apply. Should your condition change resulting in your transfer to ED, this fee will still be applicable).
You will be immediately transferred to ED. (Note: No fee will apply).
You will be referred back to your general practice for treatment (Note: No fee will apply; however you may incur a fee at your general practice).

Waiting Time for WAM Services

If your triage process results in your condition requiring treatment at WAM, the nurse will ask you to return to the waiting area or escort you to a consultation room.

WAM will constantly prioritise urgent presentations and, on high volume days/times, may not be able to carry out non-urgent consultations such as providing medical certificates and services to treat minor medical issues. If you are registered with a general practice in Whanganui, we encourage you to contact them as early as possible for these types of appointments.

At WAM, we aim to keep waiting times to a minimum; however, depending on the complexity and volumes of presenting patients, wait times may become lengthy. If you are referred to WAM services following your triage, feel free to ask our staff how long the waiting time will be.

Consultation Notes & Test Results

Your consultation notes will be sent to your usual GP to ensure continuity of care if they are located within the Whanganui region.

If you do not want your consultation notes sent to your general practitioner, please inform the nurse or doctor who is providing your service.
If you are not enrolled in a local general practice, you may request a copy of your clinical notes to take to your usual General Practitioner; please inform reception or medical staff of this request.

If tests are carried out during your visit, the results will be sent to your general practitioner. If you do not want your results sent to your general practitioner, please notify the clinician who is providing your service. You will be contacted by our staff if your results require follow up.

Fees & Charges

WAM is a private, not-for-profit organisation that is located on the hospital grounds and leases the occupied space from the WDHB.

The range of fees and charges for WAM services differ depending on a number of factors:

The time and day that you present, e.g. after hours or outside of normal business hours
The age of the patient being seen
Whether you hold a Community Services Card
What service you receive at WAM – nurse, doctor, ACC, etc.

Fees are posted on this website and are displayed in the waiting area and at reception.

Payment is required after you have seen the triage nurse who will determine the cost of the service that will be provided to you. If you are unable to make payment on the day you are seen, please speak with the reception staff to arrange payment.

A $13.00 administration fee will be added to your account if you do not make payment before the end of the month in which you are seen.

The full Fee Schedule for Whanganui Accident & Medical is shown below.

Click here for the Fee Schedule

Feedback, Compliments & Complaints

At WAM, we aim to provide the best service possible to our community. We understand that sometimes there can be a long wait and our team do the best we can to accommodate all who walk through our doors. If you would like to offer feedback about your experience at WAM, compliment a member of staff or make a complaint about the service you have received, please click the button below where you will be redirected to our Consumer Feedback Form.

All information received is confidential and will be actioned in a timely manner.

Consumer Feedback Form

Patient Experience Testimonials

A big thank you to the triage nurse; Brian and Doctor Robert from America that saw me at WAM yesterday, and the lovely receptionist. It was so lovely to see such a professional and caring Team.

I had my son there and the nurse was amazing. He made sure my 6-month-old baby and I were tucked away in a room not so close to anyone. The doctor was also awesome. There wasn’t that much of a wait and the receptionist corrected pronounced my son's Māori name. Thank you for being awesome team.

WAM is amazing. I was there last week and yes, there was a long wait, but the care was excellent.