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No formal referral is required — self-referrals and GP referrals are both welcome. When contacting us, include a brief description of your symptoms, any investigations or treatments already tried, and relevant test results. This helps us assess urgency and make the most of your consultation time.

Seeing a specialist is a significant cost without insurance. We try to offer good value by addressing multiple problems across the full ENT spectrum in a single visit, performing minor procedures in clinic rather than the operating theatre (avoiding hospital and anaesthetist fees), and managing simple follow-ups by phone, email, or text at no charge.

• Initial consultation: $325 (child) / $397 (adult)
• Follow-up: $219 (child) / $289 (adult)
• Complex consultation: $629 (initial) / $475 (follow-up)
• Simple procedures (endoscopy, complex ear cleaning, biopsy, nasal cautery, nerve blocks): $150–$381
• Advanced procedures (grommets, ultrasound-guided biopsy, complex cautery): $418–$655
• Skin lesion removal: quoted separately depending on complexity
• Botox: $650 (100-unit vial)
• Prescription authorisation (no clinic visit, established patients only): $31

These are indicative private fees and may change over time. ACC-covered appointments are free to patients. Southern Cross members have their own negotiated fees depending on their plan — we submit claims on your behalf. We provide a fee estimate before your appointment if requested. If your insurer requires prior authorisation, we can provide the necessary estimates.

Post-operative consultations within 6 weeks of surgery are included at no charge. Endoscopy performed during a post-operative visit is charged separately.

Private surgeries are performed at Kaweka Hospital. The following guidelines apply:

• Straightforward: ages 3–80 and relatively healthy
• Requires assessment: ages 18 months–3 years; ages 3–80 with moderate medical conditions or higher anaesthetic risk; over 80 and relatively healthy with good social support
• Not suitable for private surgery: under 18 months; significant medical conditions or high anaesthetic risk; patients without adequate social support

Patients not suitable for private surgery can be referred to the public surgical waiting list at Hastings Hospital.

Dr. Kennel audits his outcomes annually and publishes the results so patients can make informed decisions. Because patients have direct mobile access to him after surgery, he hears about ED visits, readmissions, and post-operative concerns that might otherwise go unrecorded — giving this data a high capture rate. As with all surgical data, case complexity matters: higher complication rates don't always mean worse surgery.

• Traditional tonsillectomy return to operating theatre: 1.94%
• Traditional tonsillectomy readmission for pain or dehydration: 5.8%
• Coblation tonsillectomy post-operative bleed: 0%
• Coblation tonsillectomy readmission for pain or dehydration: 0%
• Mastoidectomy facial nerve injury: 0%
• Parotidectomy permanent facial nerve injury: 0% (temporary weakness following complex cancer surgery near the nerve has resolved in all cases)
• Parotidectomy sialocele (fluid collection): 20%
• Head & neck cancer clear surgical margins: 92.9%
• Melanoma clear surgical margins: 100%
• Non-melanoma skin cancer (BCC & SCC) clear surgical margins: 94.7%
• Skin cancer wound infection: 5.8%
• Neck dissection lymph node yield: average 48, median 50
• Neck dissection major complications: 0%
• Non-skin surgical site infection: 1.6%
• 30-day postoperative mortality: 0%

Cholesteatoma recurrence can take 2–4 years to become apparent after surgery, so true long-term rates require extended follow-up. Dr. Kennel uses careful technique and specialised dissection methods to minimise recurrence risk, and planned MRI surveillance and second-look procedures are used where indicated. So far, his cholesteatoma recurrence rate is 7.5% — a figure he continues to monitor as longer follow-up accumulates.

We treat a wide range of ENT conditions, but some things are better handled elsewhere:

• Dizziness and balance disorders — referred to a specialist colleague
• TMJ jaw pain — better managed by an oral and maxillofacial surgeon or dentist
• Hearing aids — fitted by an audiologist; we can investigate the underlying cause but don't supply aids
• Cochlear implants — performed at tertiary centres; we can advise and coordinate a referral
• Vestibular schwannoma surgery — we follow and advise patients with these tumours but surgery or radiation is performed at a tertiary centre
• Major head and neck cancer reconstruction — we work up and coordinate complex cancers but some major reconstructive surgery requires a tertiary centre
• Cosmetic procedures — we focus on therapeutic outcomes; we don't offer cosmetic rhinoplasty or facelifts

We also don't treat: complex nasal trauma requiring rib grafting, some professional voice dysphonia, advanced paediatric airway, cleft lip/palate, or parathyroid surgery.

A note on adult sleep apnoea and snoring surgery: Surgical options exist (uvulopalatal flap, expansion pharyngoplasty, sleep endoscopy, uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, tongue base reduction, and others), but most private insurers in New Zealand do not cover these procedures. Snoring surgery without documented sleep apnoea is similarly not covered, unless the underlying cause is nasal obstruction — which is usually covered. Before booking a consultation, we recommend checking with your insurer whether surgical treatment is covered under your policy — if it isn't, the consultation cost may not be a worthwhile investment unless you are prepared to self-fund surgery.

Public surgery for sleep apnoea is available in some cases, though waiting lists can be lengthy and there is a clinical threshold for eligibility — patients who have tried and failed CPAP therapy are generally in a stronger position to qualify.

Tonsillectomy for sleep-disordered breathing in children is a separate matter and is routinely covered by insurers.