She said she moved to the Western Heights practice from Korowai Aroha after they were fully booked and unable to accept additional family members.
While under-6s are free at practices across Rotorua, Ms Himona said cost was a factor because she had four children living with her and two were older than six so were charged a fee.
Ms Himona said she was grateful for the support of her doctor during the past six months after the discovery of the heart problems, which included a 4cm hole in Te-Wiroa's heart. She said her GP always made time to see her, even if he was fully booked and said the consistency in seeing the same doctor was really important.
The fee structures for GPs varies greatly in Rotorua after the first five years, which are free.
Fees for 6-year-olds range from $5 to $24 while once you turn 18 fees can range from $10 to $36.
The most expensive doctors' surgery for adults is Surgery 10 which charges $36. The cheapest are Korowai Aroha and Ngati Pikiao Health Centre which each charge $10.
Because doctors' practices and medical centres are privately owned, they can set their own fees.
They can also decide what fees they charge for services provided outside of a consultation, such as repeat prescriptions or referral letters to specialists.
The cost of visits are lower if you are enrolled with a GP because the Government subsidises the fee. Some general practices join a "low cost access" programme run by their primary health organisation which means they get extra government funding to keep fees lower.
Primary care researcher Professor Jackie Cumming, of Victoria University, said higher fees for children six and older could affect the ability for people to access GP services. "There is some evidence they will use more hospital emergency department services. There's international evidence that shows people will be sicker if they are not using primary health care services."
She said more money should be put into keeping fees low if they wanted people to access primary health care services. She suggested a fees exemption for the rest of a year once families reached 20 GP visits, similar to the scheme for the $5 pharmacy prescription charge. However, she said the prescription charge system was flawed: The fees were often not waived when a person was entitled to this.
Health Minister Tony Ryall said the Government had worked on integrating services and had put more money into primary health care. "We've increased funding for primary care subsidies by over $180 million compared to 2007/08. Funding for the very low-cost access scheme has increased by more than 65 per cent from $27 million in 2007/8 to $45 million this financial year."
Additional reporting: APN News & Media
