Awanui Labs offers a free to the patient (TDHB funded) home visit service for house bound patients. This service covers all accessible areas within 10kms of a Awanui Labs collection centre.
Home visits can only be provided if the Eligibility Criteria (below) is met.
Eligibility Criteria
- Patients (or the parent/caregiver of minor patients) must be bedridden or have impaired mobility, mental or physical in nature and have no support person to provide transport to a collection centre to be eligible for a home visit. Financial hardship and/or lack or transport are not considered acceptable criteria for a home visit.
- Any requests for home visits must be made by the referring medical practitioner or authorised representative (e.g. Senior Nurse) – Not the patient/caregiver or relative
- Bookings are restricted to patients living within a 10km radius of the nearest Awanui Labs collection centre. In exceptional circumstances and only by mutual agreement this requirement may be waivered.
- Any changes to the original request must be communicated to our Home Visit staff by the referrer.
- Our Home Visit Staff must be advised in the first instance if patients circumstances have changed and they will not be home.
Home Visit Hours of Service
Home visits are provided Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays) during the following hours:
7:30am – 4:00pm
It is not possible to arrange a set time for home visits. As these patients are by definition housebound this should not be cause for concern.
Arranging a Home Visit
To authorise and request a home visit by Awanui Labs please email a request form clearly marked home visit to tki.home.visits@awanuilabs.co.nz.
- Any urgent requests must be indicated as clinically urgent and can be arranged by phoning our Home visit staff directly.
- Any requests for home visits must be made by the referring medical practitioner or authorised representative (e.g. Senior Nurse) – Not the patient/caregiver or relative
- All bookings should be made no later than 4:00pm on the previous business day. Any visits outside this timeframe should be clinically urgent and requested via phone to our Home Visit staff.
- Please ensure that the Home Visit staff are provided with any specific details relating to the visit – i.e. With holding of medication for drug levels.
- Best endeavours will be made to accommodate the individual needs of the patients, however these cannot be guaranteed.
- No long term requests will be accepted, we will only book visits up to a maximum of two weeks in advance after which we would expect the patients need for home visits to be reviewed.
Home Visit Management
- Routine visits including those at rest homes are grouped into geographical areas and allocated certain days of the week.
- Visits outside scheduled days will be accommodated for any clinically urgent requests.
- If the patient is not home when we call Awanui Labs reserves the right to request the patient to attend one of our collection rooms in the area.
- Patients who no longer meet the eligibility criteria will be discharged from the service after consultation with the referrer.
- Awanui Labs will notify the referring practitioner if the patient is repeatedly not home at the time of the visit or where circumstances have changed enabling the patient to visit a collection centre.
- Awanui Labs will review all regular home visit patients annually. Eligibility for home visits is assessed to ensure we can provide home visits to those patients with the greatest need.
The Home Visit
Patients must ensure that all pets are restrained and that the phlebotomist can safely gain access to the patient’s home.
Patients not at home at the time of the visit will be left a calling card and advised to contact the referring practitioner as soon as possible to make alternative arrangements for their testing.
The Home Visit will not proceed if the patient cannot be positively identified by the phlebotomist.
Rest Homes
- Rest homes are allocated specific days for visits, any requests outside of these schedules must be confirmed as clinically urgent by the requestor.
- A staff member from the rest home must be available to support the phlebotomist and assist with identification of the patient. The visit will not proceed if the patient cannot be positively identified by the phlebotomist.
- Our staff must be assured of a safe environment, we enlist your help to ensure that our Occupational Health and Safety obligations are met and our staff are safe whilst providing home visits to your patients.