West Coast DHB
Buller District, Grey District, Westland District
Licensed institutions in this area
There are no licensed institutions or certifying consultants in the West Coast DHB area
Services Provided
No terminations of pregnancy are performed on the West Coast. Counselling is provided and assistance with arrangements for referral to Christchurch for procedures for termination of pregnancy.
Appointments
| Phone: | (03) 7680499 Ext 2840 Grey Base Hospital, Greymouth |
| (03) 7889030 Ext 8718 Westport Hospital |
|
| (03) 7558044 Ext 7807 Hokitika Health Centre |
Appointments should be made directly with the Pregnancy counsellor.
Counselling
A qualified pregnancy counsellor/social worker is based at Grey Base Hospital. They provide pregnancy counselling to all women covering the geographic region from Greymouth to Haast.
Phone: (03) 768 2790
Fax: (03) 768 2793
Another qualified pregnancy counsellor/social worker is based at Buller Hospital in Westport and covers the region for Karamea to Reefton.
Phone: (03) 788 9030
Fax: (03) 788 9292
A Maori counsellor is based in Hokitika
Phone: (03) 755 8044 ext 7807
The counselling service is free and confidential to any woman.
Women receive counselling identifying choice and options available. On the completion of counselling, if appropriate, an appointment is made for the client with the service provided in Christchurch.
Follow-up counselling is available post procedure.
Referrals
Referrals are accepted from GP, specialists, Sexual Health clinics, Family Planning and also from the woman, her family or whanau. If self-referred after counselling she will need to attend a doctor for tests and dating of the pregnancy.
Tests required are those for Lyndhurst Hospital. Results of tests should be faxed directed to Lyndhurst or to Christchurch Women's Hospital depending on where the appointment is.
The procedure
Women are referred to Christchurch for the procedure which is supplied by the Canterbury District Health Board which provides a service through Lyndhurst Hospital and Christchurch Women's Hospital.
Cost
The service is free for eligible women. Ministry of Health funding is available for Community Service card holders for financial assistance with accommodation and travel vouchers if required.
DHB responsibilities
All District Health Boards are required to provide termination of pregnancy services "for those women who meet the criteria provided by the Crimes Act 1961 and the Contraception, Sterilisation, and Abortion Act 1977". See Ministry of Health. However accessing accurate, up-to-date and informative details about how individual District Health Boards provide these services, or whether they provide them, has been extremely difficult. The information provided here is the best that we have been able to obtain for this district to date. We will continue to update the website as we obtain further information.
Last Updated: 14 April 2008