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Consultation Terms and Consent

Last updated: 26 August 2026

Please read this before your first appointment. It explains what a consultation with The Healthstyle Doctor involves, what it costs, what happens if you need to cancel, and how your health information is handled.

By completing the intake form and attending your appointment, you are agreeing to what is set out below.

The Healthstyle Doctor is a trading name of The Healthstyle Doctor Ltd.

If anything here is unclear, or you would like to talk it through first, email [email protected].

1. What a consultation is

A consultation is medical care. When you book a consultation, Dr Taisia Cech is acting as your doctor. A doctor-patient relationship is created, a clinical record is kept, and all the obligations of a doctor registered with the Medical Council of New Zealand apply.

This is different from the rest of what we do. Our website, courses, handbooks and The Morning Room membership are general health education, and none of them make you a patient. A consultation does.

2. What a consultation involves

Consultations are lifestyle and perimenopause focused. We will take a detailed history, talk through your concerns, and work with you on a plan.

A full verbal explanation of your plan is given during the consultation, and a written summary is emailed to you within 72 hours.

You have the right to seek a second opinion at any time, and the right to withdraw from our services at any stage.

3. What a consultation is not

We complement the care you get from your usual GP or specialist. We do not replace it, and you should stay enrolled with your own general practice.

We are not an urgent or after-hours service. We do not monitor email or messages for urgent problems.

If you think you are having a medical emergency, call 111 or go to your nearest emergency department. If you need to talk to someone, you can call or text 1737 free, any time, to reach a trained counsellor.

4. What we need you to tell us

So that we can care for you safely, please tell us before or during your consultation if you:

  • are pregnant, are trying to become pregnant, or become pregnant during our work together
  • have any allergies
  • have any medical or mental health condition that could affect your assessment or treatment
  • have any change in your condition while you are under our care
  • have any concerns about your plan, or any problem resulting from it
  • have any cultural needs we should know about

5. Fees

Consultation fees are advised to you at the time of booking and are confirmed in your booking confirmation. Current fees are also available on request. All fees are in New Zealand dollars.

Payment for an initial consultation is due before the appointment. Follow-up consultations are invoiced, with payment due within two weeks.

Fees change from time to time. Any change applies only to appointments booked after the change, never to an appointment you have already booked.

6. Cancellations and non-attendance

We understand that life happens, and we will always use judgement where something genuinely unavoidable has come up. So that appointments can be offered to someone else, please give us as much notice as you can.

  • 48 hours’ notice or more: no charge. There is a reschedule button at the bottom of your confirmation email, so you can move your appointment to a new time yourself, whenever suits you. If you would rather not do it that way, or you cannot find a time that works, just email [email protected] and we will sort it out for you.
  • Less than 48 hours’ notice: a fee of 50% of the appointment cost is charged and invoiced to you.
  • Not attending without cancelling: the full appointment fee is charged and invoiced to you.

If an account remains unpaid and is referred for debt recovery, you are responsible for the recovery costs and a $50 administration fee.

7. Your health information

All information recorded in your health record is kept confidential in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 and the Health Information Privacy Code 2020. It is accessed only by people who need it to provide your care.

We use the following services to run your care:

  • Acuity Scheduling, to take and manage your appointment bookings. The details you give when booking are held there.
  • Elixir, our practice management system, to store your clinical notes, order blood tests and send referrals. Where we order a test or make a referral, the information needed for it is shared with the laboratory or the provider we are referring you to.
  • Heidi, an AI-assisted medical dictation service, to help produce your consultation notes. The information provided to Heidi includes identifying details such as your name, along with the clinical content of your consultation. You may ask us not to use this service for your consultation and we will take notes without it. Just say so at the start of your appointment.
  • Stripe, to take payment and issue your invoices and receipts.

Unless you tell us otherwise, we take it that you give us permission to write to your referring GP or specialist, or to share relevant information with your usual GP if you referred yourself. Continuity of care is safer for you.

We will not give your information to anyone else without your permission, unless we are required to by law, or unless we reasonably believe there is a serious risk to your safety or someone else’s.

You have the right to see your health information and to ask for it to be corrected. If information is used for audit purposes it is de-identified, so you cannot be personally identified.

We keep your health record for at least 10 years from the day after we last provided services to you, as required by the Health (Retention of Health Information) Regulations 1996.

8. Your rights

Your rights as a health consumer in New Zealand are set out in the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights. You can read the Code at hdc.org.nz.

You are welcome to bring a support person to your appointment, unless doing so would compromise safety or unreasonably affect someone else’s rights.

You are also entitled to free, independent advocacy through the Health and Disability Advocacy Service on 0800 11 22 33.

9. Complaints

If you are unhappy with any aspect of your care, please tell us. Email [email protected] and we will respond.

You also have the right to complain to the Health and Disability Commissioner at any time, and you do not have to come to us first. You can find out how at hdc.org.nz. You can also get free support from the Health and Disability Advocacy Service on 0800 11 22 33.

More information

This page covers 1:1 consultations only. Our website, courses, handbooks, coaching and The Morning Room membership are covered by our full Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which also sets out how we handle your information outside of clinical care.

Where anything on this page differs from that document, this page applies to your consultation.