Rheumatology Service — Wellington, Hutt and Kapiti
The Rheumatology Service diagnoses and treats conditions causing inflammation in the joints, muscles, and other body tissues.
Contact us
Our service is open between 8:30am and 4pm, Monday to Friday.
If we do not answer your call, leave a message and we will aim to call you back within 2 working days. In your message include your:
- name
- NHI number
- date of birth
- contact number.
Appointments
To contact us about an appointment call 04 570 9038
Rheumatology nurses
You can contact our nurses by either:
- phone 0800 726 505
- email RheumatologyNurses@huttvalleydhb.org.nz
Where to find us
Our service is based at Hutt Hospital. For all patient enquiries contact us at the phone number or email address above.
Please do not call Wellington Hospital, Kenepuru Hospital or Five Rivers Medical Centre.
Our outpatient clinics are located at:
Services we provide
A rheumatologist is a specialist doctor who can discuss with you the possible diagnosis for problems affecting your joints, muscles and bones, such as:
- arthritis (which can cause joints to become painful, swollen and stiff)
- other musculoskeletal conditions (which affect bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, as well as other joints)
- autoimmune diseases (where the musculoskeletal system and other parts of the body, including eyes, skin, internal organs and the nervous system, can become inflamed)..
Your rheumatologist will work with you and the other members (nurses and registrars) of the team to:
- design a treatment plan to help manage your disease
- maximise your quality of life.
They can also recommend further tests or treatments.
You may need to see a rheumatologist long-term if you have certain conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis. For some other conditions, treatment may be provided by your normal healthcare service, who can be in touch with us for advice if needed.
Appointment information
At your first appointment, we will ask about your symptoms and find a possible cause. Your first appointment usually takes around 40 minutes. Follow-up appointments are shorter, taking up to 20 minutes. These might be with a rheumatologist or one of our specialist nurses. We may also arrange extra tests, such as blood tests, x-rays or scans.
Once a diagnosis is made, your rheumatologist will explain your condition and what you might expect in the future. This is important as some rheumatological conditions might affect you for a long time. You may have ongoing follow-up in clinic or be treated by your GP with advice from the specialist.
What to bring to your appointment
When you come to your appointment it is helpful to bring:
- a list of the medicines you are taking
- any letters or reports from any other rheumatologists you may have seen.
Wear clothing that is appropriate for examination.
Referral information
Patients
You need to be referred to our service by your usual healthcare provider, specialist, or other health professional involved in your care.
Healthcare professionals
If you are referring from:
- within Health New Zealand Capital, Coast and Hutt Valley refer through Single Clinical Portal
- community referral within the Greater Wellington region, send an e-referral.
Common appointment queries
At your clinic visit with our service, your nurse or doctor will tell you when they have requested your next visit. We aim to book your appointment in this timeframe, but this is not always possible. Rheumatology is an extremely busy service. While we try to keep delays to a minimum, you may be seen later than requested by your Rheumatologist or Nurse. We maintain a waitlist based on requested timeframes and review this regularly.
You will be informed of the timing of your appointment by letter at least 2 weeks before the appointment. You will receive 2 text message reminders in the days prior to this appointment.
Let us know immediately if your address or phone number changes, so we can ensure you receive your appointment notifications.
Let us know if you need to cancel or reschedule, as soon as possible. If you give us as much warning as possible we can reallocate the appointment to another person. This helps us manage the waiting list and make sure all appointment are used.
Call the appointments team for all your appointment questions 8:30am to 4pm, Monday to Friday on 04 570 9038
Common concerns
Contact our nursing team or visit your GP service. If your GP needs advice on managing your condition, they are invited to contact our service by calling our Registrar through the Hutt Hospital switchboard or our oncall Rheumatologist if the Registrar is unavailable.
Contact our nursing team or visit your GP service. If your GP needs advice on managing your condition, they are invited to contact our service by calling our Registrar through the Hutt Hospital switchboard or our oncall Rheumatologist if the Registrar is unavailable.
Make an appointment to visit your GP service. If your GP needs advice on managing your condition, they are invited to contact our service by calling our Registrar through the Hutt Hospital switchboard or our oncall Rheumatologist if the Registrar is unavailable.
Arrange repeat prescriptions from your usual medical centre, which you can often do via the practice telephone prescription service or through the online portal. We provide your medical centre with a copy of all clinic letters from your consultations with our service. This outlines the rheumatology specific medications you may be on and supports them in providing repeat prescriptions. We advise that you arrange a new prescription well before you run out of medications.
Use pain medications that have worked for you previously. If these medications are not helping, visit your GP service. They will help you manage your pain or they can contact our Registrar through the Hutt hospital switchboard or ask us to prioritise an earlier appointment. Unfortunately, we do not have urgent appointments.
Our medical and nursing team monitor blood tests ordered by the Rheumatology Service. As we are looking after a large number of results, we will only contact you if there is a result that is concerning or needs further action. Do not call our nurses for blood results unless you have been specifically requested to notify us of repeat tests.
We are not able to load results onto “Manage my Health” or other GP portals. When you have your bloods taken at Awanui laboratory, you can request that the lab sends you a copy of results.
Radiology results are discussed with you in person at your next scheduled appointment. If there is anything urgent that you need to be aware of, or that requires immediate action, our team will be in touch with you, usually by telephone.
We advise our patients to get the annual influenza (flu) vaccine and the COVID vaccine. You may be eligible for a funded Shingles (Shingrix) vaccine. Discuss with your rheumatology team.