Editorial and Medical Review Standards for NZ Healthcare Guides
A detailed policy explaining how medicalcentre-nz.org/ creates safer, human-checked medical-centre and health-service guides for New Zealand users.
If someone has chest pain, severe breathing difficulty, stroke symptoms, serious injury, overdose, heavy bleeding, unconsciousness, severe allergic reaction, suicidal danger, or any immediate life-threatening problem in New Zealand, call 111 now.
For free health advice when you are worried or unsure and it is not an immediate emergency, call Healthline 0800 611 116. For mental health support, call or text 1737 to talk with a trained counsellor.
Our pages can influence health decisions, so they must be written, checked and updated more carefully than ordinary directory content. We use a human-verification workflow and do not allow unsupported diagnosis or treatment claims.
What this page covers
Editorial Principles for a NZ Medical Directory
- Put safety before search traffic: urgent symptoms must point to 111 or appropriate clinical help.
- Make every practical detail useful: phone, address, hours, enrolment, appointment steps and official links where available.
- Prefer official or primary NZ sources over copied snippets, old directories or generic web summaries.
- Do not present general content as personal medical advice.
- Use readable language for patients, caregivers, visitors and whānau.
- Clearly separate clinic-directory facts from health-education guidance.
Medical Review Boundary: What Needs Clinical Review
Some content can be verified editorially, such as a clinic address, public phone number, official website, Healthpoint listing, opening hours, enrolment note or patient-rights link. Medical claims are different. Any page that explains symptoms, medicine use, treatment options, screening, pregnancy, child health, mental health, chronic disease, urgent-warning signs or clinical pathways should be checked against trusted NZ medical sources and should not replace a professional consultation.
If a page could change what a patient does with a symptom, medicine, injury, pregnancy concern, child illness or mental-health situation, the content should include clear escalation advice and link to official NZ health resources.
High-Value Page Creation Workflow
- User-intent audit. Identify whether the searcher needs a clinic phone number, appointment steps, after-hours care, emergency help, enrolment details, fees, patient rights or general health education.
- Source mapping. Find the primary clinic website, Healthpoint listing, Health NZ, Ministry of Health, Healthify, HDC or other appropriate NZ source.
- Fact extraction. Capture only public details that can be checked: address, phone, opening hours, services, enrolment, accessibility, parking notes and after-hours directions.
- Safety layer. Add 111, Healthline, mental-health and urgent-care guidance where relevant.
- Human review. A human editor checks links, phone formatting, clinic identity, duplicate names and source freshness.
- Publish with correction path. Every page should make it easy to report outdated details.
Plain-Language and Cultural-Care Standard
New Zealand health content should be easy to understand for patients, caregivers, older adults, visitors, migrants and whānau. We avoid complex medical language unless needed, then explain it in simple terms. We also avoid judgemental wording, stigma and unsafe assumptions.
Where relevant, pages should acknowledge that people may need interpreter support, disability access, whānau support, Māori health services, Pacific health services, rural access options or after-hours alternatives.
Risk-Control Rules for Health Content
| Risk | Required handling |
|---|---|
| Emergency symptoms | Say call 111. Do not tell readers to wait for a clinic if symptoms sound urgent. |
| Medication questions | Link to trusted medicine information and recommend pharmacist/doctor/Healthline advice. |
| Children, pregnancy or older adults | Use extra caution and recommend professional assessment when symptoms may be significant. |
| Mental health crisis | Mention 1737 and 111 when immediate safety is at risk. |
| Clinic fees or hours | Tell readers to call before visiting because availability and fees may change. |
Review and Update Cycle
Medical centre details can change without warning. Clinic pages should be checked when official websites update, Healthpoint details change, a user reports a correction, a phone number fails, a clinic moves, after-hours arrangements change, or a public-health issue affects the advice.
Editorial Quality Means Fewer Pages With More Trust
This site should publish fewer but deeper pages that actually help patients make safer choices.
☎ Healthline ✉ Contact editorial team