Senior doctors and dentists at Health NZ public hospitals and health services plan to strike for 48 hours on Tuesday 23 September and Wednesday 24 September. Emergency departments will be open for emergencies only. GPs, after-hours and urgent care clinics, and other community health providers are not affected by the strike and will continue to operate as normal.
About the strike
Musculoskeletal service — Canterbury and West Coast
The Canterbury and West Coast musculoskeletal service is a publicly funded service. It is for patients with non-urgent musculoskeletal conditions that do not require surgery.
Contact us
To contact the Canterbury and West Coast musculoskeletal service:
- phone: 03 364 4189
- email: mskclinic@cdhb.health.nz
Where to find us
The Canterbury and West Coast Musculoskeletal Service is at:
32 Oxford Terrace
PO Box 1600
Christchurch
We run clinics at the 24 hour surgery and the Riccarton Clinic.
Services we provide
Musculoskeletal services focus on problems, including pain, in:
- muscles
- tendons
- ligaments
- joints
- bones.
The exception to this is inflammatory joint disease which is usually dealt with by rheumatologists.
As part of our service, you get:
- a free 30 minute consultation with a registered musculoskeletal specialist at a community clinic
- long term home-based rehabilitation exercises supervised by a physiotherapist.
Referral information
Referrals are accepted for patients who are registered with a medical practice in Canterbury or the West Coast districts.
You must be referred by a healthcare provider, either:
- directly to our service
- to the orthopaedic department of Christchurch Hospital or Te Nīkau, Grey Hospital and Health Centre — the hospital will triage your referral and, if appropriate, refer it on to us.
The service does not cover injury related problems that are funded by ACC.