Victoria University Of Wellington - Student Health

wasn’t taken seriously by any staff bar reception who were quite nice. doctors seem to have better things to do than treat patients. every appt always late, lasts about five minutes, never any resolution with my health issues, always interrupting me and talking over me. always end up going to A&E where somehow i receive better care and my problems are finally resolved.

It really depends on who you see at your appointment. It's quite random. some doctors are very nice, kind, helpful, and take the time, and some really don't seem to care and put on a fake smile when they talk to you. And then these specific unfriendly doctors don't even do what they promised to do -- to call and advise what to do after the blood test results came in, rather than sending a text everything is okay

Students! Do NOT bother coming here. After 2 years of using this service I’ve come to the conclusion it is not worth the annual $500 levy fee. They say ‘we are a free service’ every time they need an excuse but that is simply not true when we are still paying this massive levy fee. Every time I’ve made an appointment here, it’s had to be made atleast 3 weeks in advance, and almost every appointment they have last minute changed to a phone consultation, had to reschedule the appointment or cancel. Many of the Drs here are undertrained, and clearly have little experience freshly graduated I guess. I’ve been through four different GP’s here and I’ve been shocked by the way I’ve been treated and dismissed from every single one. (Majority are female drs) As someone with chronic pain I’ve been denied pain relief, I’ve been dismissed for having these pains and told I quote “if nothing comes back from this ultrasound, there’s nothing we can do for you”. I told doctors I’ve been to the hospital three times from the pains reaching extreme levels, they dismissed this and still denied pain relief. Endometriosis runs in my family and I have symptoms yet I’ve been told by many doctors at your practice that “I don’t fit the symptoms”. Yet when I got an ultrasound the MALE technician was shocked because he believed I did fit the symptoms and told me to change practices immediately. My final straw was my most recent appointment that took three weeks for me to book and changed to a phone consultation the day before. I told the DR I wanted a mental health assessment to test me for possible further issues as I am diagnosed anxiety and depression already. I’m response to this I was told my symptoms are not severe enough to be referred to a physiatrist and told “we can’t help everyone”. I was then suddenly being prescribed anti depressants when I never asked for that. The Dr told me “these are going to be the symptoms…” and “this medication will numb your feelings”. I wish I was joking when I say this. So many situations I’ve been given dangerous medical advice and I’m just glad that I’m strong enough to not let these doctors dismissing me and giving me bad mental health advice affect me. But the thing is this could really damage someone else, so please I beg of you do not bother with student health it is not worth it. I think a lot of my treatment comes down to Doctors treating me like a young naive women who is exaggerating her pain. I’ve left so many interactions crying and upset because I feel like I’m being treated with misogyny and like I’m being dramatic. I have now changed practices and at this point I do not care that I have to pay because nothing will be worse than the treatment I’ve had by student health for the last 2 years.

Awful experience with the receptionist every time, they treat you with little respect and ignore your symptoms which in turn can be dangerous. While Student Health is good overall when you’ve actually been seen, it does takes weeks to make an appointment.

Would not recommend student health at Vic to anyone. Get a community services card and you can see a local GP for cheap and it will be far, far better than this place. Most of the doctors at VUW student health have terrible people skills and don’t take a lot of students seriously. One time I had to ask a doctor for a medical certificate because I had missed a deadline after having several panic attacks in the week of the deadline. The doctor I talked to was extremely rude, berated me, and kept on ranting about how he didn’t just want to “hand out” medical certificates to students… he also told me I was just “being difficult”. I was not mentally stable at the time, and this incident only worsened my condition. This is a genuinely DANGEROUS approach to caring for a mentally ill patient and the doctors need better training. Having basic people skills should be a prerequisite for these doctors as well.

Variable levels of care. Some doctors are great, some are overworked and you'll be rushed through. Luck of the draw. What can you do, it's free.

Not sure why so many people seem to have issues with reception and/or doctors being rude. Had a good 20 or so calls and a handful of appointments and would go as far as to say my experience has been outstanding. The doctor I first saw showed genuine care and compassion with regards to my health... they restored my faith in healthcare which had been completely destroyed after having had 26 years of NHS in the UK.

had the worst experience with student health, I am a type 1 diabetic that usually is supposed to have specialist appointments every 3 months. Had a specialist at student health and had a few appointments with her then didn't hear from her for about 5 months... contacted student health in urgency at least 3 times as I needed to get a prescription for my insulin ( My insulin that keeps me alive, and I will eventually die if I do not have ) and they told me they were Fully Booked" for 3 weeks. It got to the point where I was crying in the chemist begging them to give me a repeat so I didn't have to go to hospital lol. I seriously don't know what it would take for them to class someone as urgent

Over four weeks to get an appointment for constant stomach pain, got patronised and told it was stress. Saw a different doctor and at least got tested to rule out other causes, but it was months later. And they didn’t email the appointment notes like they said for insurance reasons. On call nurse told me I needed a covid test then refused to give me one and made me walk (despite me saying how long it was and I didn’t have a car) two hours midday sun through busy CBD to the Taranaki St one. Also went with unexplained chest pain to be told “we don’t do walk ins” (sorry should I schedule my unexplained random chest pain for next Tuesday?!?!) and only got seen because I refused to leave. Etc. always see a random doctor so zero continuity. Understaffed, staff that run reception are bored/rude, and then at red light oh sorry your counselling appt is by phone so I had to cancel it as had nowhere private to take the call. Just as well I don’t have major health issues generally because if I did I’d be paying for a different doctor! Wouldn’t even give me a proper plaster when I slashed my thumb in a uni lab by accident. This isn’t just a short term thing either as these experiences stretch over four years.

My doctor was 25 minutes late and when I asked reception they just said ''oh she just hasn't come in yet.'' What? Appointment only ran for a total of seven minutes, she rushed me through. Took me two weeks to get an appointment, will be transferring back to my GP at home.Edited: Got changed to a new Dr. (Tina Cartmell) she is fantastic, and I'm really pleased with the services she offers. I guess its very much a luck of the draw.