About GPSI Diabetes
Dr Janet Titchener introduced New Zealand to a cutting edge approach to diabetes management when she opened GPSI Diabetes in Hawke's Bay. That was over 10 years ago. Today, this cutting edge specialty diabetes service is now providing care to people from all over New Zealand.
At the time a person is diagnosed with diabetes, they are generally given a set of instructions which they are expected to follow - for example "you need to lose some weight", "you should take insulin", "you must eat a more healthy diet, exercise more" and/or "you need to take these pills". In other words they are expecting a person to change their lifestyle and life choices so that they fit into a prescribed diabetes management regime.
At GPSI Diabetes we do not do this. We recognise that each person is a unique individual with their own set of beliefs and priorities about their life, and that management success will not occur if treatments being selected do not suit the patient’s unique life situations and/or cultural and personal beliefs. There are many different ways to manage diabetes and we believe that if you are provided with information about all of these choices, then you will be able to determine which management option is going to suit you and your life the best. In otherwords, it is quite possible for you to fit your diabetes into your life as opposed to fitting your life into diabetes.
This approach to care is what is known as a patient-centered approach. GPSI Diabetes is the only provider in New Zealand to provide a truly patient centered approach to diabetes care.
GPSI Diabetes is also unique in that it provides care for all types of diabetes and for all ages - paediatrics to adulthood. Trained as a Primary Care Physician, Board Certified in Advanced Diabetes Management (AADE) and with a Masters in Psychology, Dr Janet provides specialist diabetes care against a background holistic approach. Her philosophy is to "do myself out of business" by empowering each individual with the knowledge to independently self-manage their own diabetes.
With rooms in Havelock North (Hawkes Bay) and Auckland, our friendly professional team aims to provide you with information to understand your particular type of diabetes and involve you in the medical decision-making
GPSI Diabetes believes empowering patients will change health care systems around the world - and that this can only be achieved by using a patient centered approach. Click HERE to find out more about patient centered care and what receiving this care would mean for you.
Our team
Dr Janet Titchener - Clinical Director
MD, MA, BC-ADM (AADE), AAFP, RNZCGP
I have been the Clinical Director at GPSI Diabetes for over 10 years and have close to 20 years experience in diabetes management.
I completed my medical training at one of America's top institutions (University of Pennsylvania/Lancaster General). It was during my training as a Family Physician that I developed my interest in diabetes - and developed the patient centered approach to diabetes management that is used at GPSI Diabetes today. After completing a Fellowship and board certificatioin in Advanced Diabetes Management, I joined the faculty at Lancaster General to teach general medicine and diabetes management both within the hospital setting and the community.
In New Zealand, I continue to teach other providers, regularly giving training courses for registrars, GPs and nurses. Each year, I return to Lancaster General to teach diabetes management to hospital and primary care physicians. I am also Medical Director at Setebaid Services, a non-profit organisation that runs camps for children and teens with diabetes. I am is actively involved in research, with a number of publications, including Diabetes a manual for providers delivering patient centred care to people with diabetes.
Annatjie Pretorius - Nurse Practitioner
My name is Annatjie (pronounced “ahh-nicky”. I recently qualified as a Nurse Practitioner in Primary Care and am passionate about working with people who have long-term conditions. Prior to this, I spent over 10 years working as a nurse in the emergency department and in the surgical and medical wards.
I joined GPSI Diabetes in 2013. I love the patient centered approach which allows me to work alongside patients, empowering them to self-manage. I really enjoy teaching, sharing my knowledge and experience - and it is always my goal to explain things in such a way that it all makes sense. It is so rewarding to see our patients walk out at the end of their appointments with renewed hope and determination.
I am passionate about my work, about being a team player and love being a part of the GPSI Diabetes team. If you are looking for a team who truly cares, understands, and is willing to work with you to make a difference then give us a call.
Sally Gardner - Front desk staff
I have been the front desk receptionist at GPSI Diabetes since 2013. I love this job as it allows me to incorporate all of the work ethics and skills I have developed throughout my many years of working in the health sector, in customer service and in office administration – and it allows me to just be me.
I enjoy getting to know all of our clients whether it be through phone calls or from conversations in the waiting room; and I take great pleasure in arranging appointments to your satisfaction, find the missing script or sorting whatever the issue at hand might be.
I love hearing feedback from clients – especially after their first appointment “if only I had known that before” or “I wish I had had this information provided to me years ago”. I often hear lots of laughter coming from both our rooms which says a lot about the connection Dr Janet and Nurse Practitioner Annatjie have with our clients.
I fully embrace the patient centered philosophy of GPSI Diabetes and find it so rewarding to see all the positive changes in our clients from one appointment to the next. So pick up the phone and give me a call. I would be happy to answer any questions you may have.