Hutt Union & Community Health Service (HUCHS) is a community-owned, low-cost health service with a clinic on Jackson Street in Petone, alongside sister clinics in Pomare and Taita. The organisation was established in Pomare in 1991, with the Petone clinic forming part of its wider network of accessible, affordable healthcare for the Hutt Valley.
The Petone clinic offers General Practitioner and nurse consultations, either face to face or by phone, along with daily phone triage for patients with acute or urgent issues. Patients can also access support for long-term conditions such as heart health, asthma and diabetes, vaccinations, immunisations and smears, and repeat prescriptions.
HUCHS also provides a wider team of support services, including community health workers, a clinical pharmacist, a dietitian, a physiotherapist, a counsellor, a health improvement practitioner and a health coach. Patients can manage appointments, prescriptions, lab results and medical notes online through the ManageMyHealth patient portal.
On Jackson Street in Petone, Hutt Union & Community Health Service (HUCHS) offers Hutt Valley residents access to affordable, community-owned healthcare. The Petone clinic is one of three HUCHS locations, alongside Pomare and Taita, all operating under a not-for-profit model designed to keep care low-cost and accessible.
HUCHS was established in Pomare in 1991 as a community-owned, low-cost health service, growing over the following decades to open its Taita clinic in 2019 and extend services into Petone. The organisation's guiding whakataukī — Kōtahi te aho ka whati, ki te kāpuia e kore e whati (one strand of flax is easy to break, but many strands together builds strength) — reflects its focus on collective, community-based care rather than a purely transactional model of general practice.
Patients at the Petone clinic can see a General Practitioner or nurse, either face to face or over the phone, and access daily phone triage for acute or urgent issues. The clinic supports patients managing long-term conditions such as heart health, asthma and diabetes, and provides vaccinations, immunisations and smears as part of routine care.
Beyond the GP and nursing team, HUCHS patients have access to a wider circle of support: a clinical pharmacist for medicine advice, a dietitian, a physiotherapist for musculoskeletal issues, a counsellor, a health improvement practitioner and a health coach. Community health workers are also available to provide broader support and advocacy — an approach that reflects the clinic's roots as a community health service rather than a standard private practice.
HUCHS makes use of the ManageMyHealth patient portal, letting patients book appointments, request repeat prescriptions, and view lab results and their own medical notes online. Repeat prescriptions are for long-term medications only and can take up to 48 hours to process, so patients are encouraged to request them well in advance — a doctor may also need to see the patient before a repeat script is issued.
On lab results, HUCHS follows a clear policy: patients are not automatically notified if results come back normal, but the clinic will make contact to arrange follow-up for any significant abnormal results. Patients who want confirmation that results have come back normal can call the nursing team directly or check the patient portal.
For urgent same-day issues, patients are asked to call between 8:30 and 9:30am so a doctor or nurse can call back, while genuine emergencies should go straight to 111. Outside clinic hours, the After Hours Medical Centre at 729 High Street, Lower Hutt operates from 5:30pm to 11pm on weekdays and 8am to 11pm on weekends, with Hutt Hospital's Emergency Department the recommended option between 11pm and 8am. Healthline is also available 24/7 on 0800 611 116 for free health advice, and Practice Plus offers virtual after-hours GP consultations.
HUCHS invites patients to raise any concerns directly with the practice manager by phone, email or post, and notes that patients who remain unsatisfied can escalate a complaint to the Health & Disability Commission.