Booked - patients will receive a date for their inpatient/daycase procedure as soon as possible.

Certainty  - patients will receive treatment within 6 months of being placed in certainty.

To access publicly-funded health services , you must be lawfully in New Zealand at the time of seeking services AND be one of the following:

• A New Zealand citizen

• A New Zealand citizen whose usual place of abode is in the Cook Islands, Niue or Tokelau

• A New Zealand citizen by descent

• A child born in New Zealand. Children born in New Zealand are New Zealand citizens by right of birth. However,  this clause does not relate to foreign diplomats with children born in New Zealand. Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961, neither diplomatic staff nor their families are able to receive medical benefits during their posting to New Zealand.

• Regarded as 'ordinarily resident' in New Zealand. These are people who hold a current New Zealand residence permit who either have already lived in New Zealand for two years, or hold a current Returning Resident's Visa.

Children aged under 18 years

A child under the age of 18, lawfully in New Zealand, is eligible if they are in the care and control of their legal guardian who is eligible under any of the above clauses.

A legal guardian is defined under Section 3 of the Guardianship Act 1968 as the person with custody of the child. It is not enough to merely be related to or otherwise caring for the child.

Examples of children eligible under this clause are the overseas-born children of New Zealand citizens accompanying their parents back to New Zealand on a temporary or permanent basis; or adopted children from overseas whose adoption process has not been finalised prior to their arrival in New Zealand.

The Department of Child Youth and Family Services issues a letter to the adopting parents of such children for documentation purposes. You should show this letter to the health care facility if seeking subsidised treatment under this clause.

To see if you are eligible for free Elective Health care please view the following Ministry of Health link or contact the hospital service directly.

You will be advised of waiting times after your referral has been assessed and triaged by the appropriate specialist.

To see how Nelson Marlborough performs against other DHBs click here .