Enrolment with a general practice and primary health organisation
Enrolment in a general practice primary health organisation (PHO) is voluntary. This provides you with the benefits of belonging to a PHO.
Pātiki and Waharua Kōpito patterns
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Enrolment in a primary health organisation (PHO) is voluntary. Most New Zealanders are however enrolled through their general practice and gain the benefits associated with belonging to a PHO, which can include cheaper doctors’ visits and reduced costs of prescription medicines.
Enrolment information
Most general practices are now part of a PHO. If you are not sure whether your general practice is part of a PHO, you can ask your regular doctor or practice nurse.
To enrol, you will have to complete and sign a form which the doctor, nurse or medical centre receptionist will give you. The form will require you to provide some personal details such as name, age, date of birth, address and ethnicity. The information collected at enrolment is subject to the Privacy Act 2020 and the Health Information Privacy Code 2020, so the privacy of your information is protected.
Enrolment demographics
Information is available on the number of people who are enrolled in a PHO and the demographic details of enrolees by PHO, Lead District and District of Domicile.
Download the latest pivot table of PHO Enrolment Demographics as of August 2024 [XLSX 1MB]
Previous PHO enrolment demographic tables
We have removed all historical enrolment pivot tables while we consolidate them into a format that is easier for the public and other stakeholders to understand enrolment data. We expect this to be republished in October 2024.
If you have any questions or you would like a copy of an historical enrolment table, please contact primary.care@tewhatuora.govt.nz.
Access to Primary Care
The table below shows the estimated percentage of the total population who are enrolled in a PHO by ethnicity as of July 2024.
|
|
Māori |
Pacific |
Other |
Total |
|
Number |
772,378 |
368,608 |
3,888,014 |
5,029,000 |
|
Percentage |
84% |
98% |
96% |
94% |
The estimated coverage for a population is sometimes slightly more than 100% as the underlying population comes from Stats NZ population projections and the enrolment number comes from the primary care data collection. Detailed information on the number and percentage of the total population who are enrolled in a PHO for each of the 20 Districts can be found in the spreadsheets below. The information is presented by ethnicity, deprivation, gender and age group for each quarter since April 2019.
Note that updated population projections were used in the calculation of the January 2022 and January 2021 statistics. The updated projections use the latest subnational population estimates and updated methodology to calculate migration. The combined impact is a variation in projected population for some Districts when compared to releases prior to January 2021.
Access to Primary Care tables
2024
2024
2023
2023
2022
2022
2021
2021
2020
2020
2019
Enrolment rules and guidelines
The document Enrolment Requirements for Contracted Providers and PHOs outlines the enrolment parameters for PHOs, including operational policies and requirements.