Ngā mihi o te wā ki a koutou katoa - welcome to another edition of Toitū te Oranga. 

 

Toitū te Oranga is our e-pānui, designed to strengthen communication and better support our practices with timely clinical updates, practical tools, and opportunities for shared learning. Each edition reflects our collective commitment to working together to strengthen care, build workforce capability, and improve outcomes for all - hei oranga mō te katoa.

 

As we mark Waitangi Day tomorrow, we take a moment to acknowledge Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its enduring significance for Aotearoa New Zealand. For us in primary care, Te Tiriti continues to guide our commitment to partnership, equity, and improving hauora outcomes for all whānau. We thank you for the work you do every day alongside your communities, and we look forward to continuing this journey together.

 

Ngā manaakitanga,

 

 

He Karere (Recent Updates)

Tai Hauora (Clinical Round-up)

Tai Pūkenga (Education, Training & Events)

Pae Hono (Helpful Links)

 

Manage My Health provided the following updates in regard to the recent cyber breach:

 

Extensive vulnerability assessment and penetration testing has been undertaken by international cybersecurity specialists. They have advised that the current Manage My Health environment is secure and operating as intended.

 

The Ministry of Health and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner are conducting formal reviews into the cyber attack. Manage My Health is fully cooperating with these processes.

Notifying approximately 100,000 patients, while working alongside multiple agencies and specialist advisors, has been a complex process. Different patient cohorts required different approaches, and this necessarily shaped the pace and sequence of communications

If you would like to discuss this update in more detail or have any questions, please contact info@managemyhealth.co.nz

 

Ongoing updates available on their website.

 

A reminder that if you are providing clinical consultations with impacted patients, there is funding available for these consultations. These should be claimed via the Hauraki PHO Primary Options claim form - using the MMH Cyber Breach coding.

 

Cybersecurity is everyone’s responsibility in general practice. Clinics continue to be a high-value target for cyber-attacks because of the sensitive health and identity information they hold. We encourage all practices to regularly review their cyber hygiene, including using strong, unique passwords and multi-factor authentication, keeping systems and clinical software up to date, and ensuring regular, tested data backups are in place. Staff training is equally important — most breaches begin with phishing emails, so reinforcing how to recognise and report suspicious messages can significantly reduce risk. Taking these simple, proactive steps helps protect patient information, maintain continuity of care, and reduce the likelihood of service disruption.

 

Collaborative Aotearoa recently hosted a webinar on Cyber Security Essentials for General Practice.  This is a concise, practical webinar focused on what cyber security really means for general practice from governance to day-to-day readiness.

 

Te Whatu Ora Cyber Hub is another useful resource containing health sector-specific cyber security guidance including awareness advice and templates for primary healthcare providers. 

 

 

Please reach out to the Practice Support Team for any assistance or questions with regard to Cybersecurity.

 

Have you just returned to nursing, or are new to practice nursing? This study day is for nurses who feel a little rusty about their diabetes knowledge and want to feel more confident with diabetes annual reviews. It is a practical, hands on (and shoes off) kind of day.

 

Please see programme here.  To register please email Jadie Bailey Registrations close 5pm, Friday 26 February or when places are filled. Numbers are limited and we are always oversubscribed so please book early.

 

In partnership with Pinnacle  - a series of LARC education sessions will take place in March.

 

These sessions are open to all clinical general practice staff and will offer introductory training on the insertion of both Mirena and Jadelle contraception devices, alongside the use of ring pessaries. These can also be a useful refresher for those staff who are already certified but may not have recently performed these procedures.

 

Please click here for more details and to register.

 

The National Primary Care Dataset is being introduced this year to bring primary care information together in one place. This will help improve understanding of what’s working well and where additional support is needed.

 

The first phase focuses on GP appointment data, showing how quickly people can see a GP and enabling progress to be measured against the Primary Care Health Target.

 

The webinar will also provide an update on the rollout of the Shared Digital Health Record. This is a national clinical data connector that allows healthcare providers to securely access a person’s core health information through shared electronic health record systems, supporting more informed care wherever a patient receives care.

 

Please send any questions in advance to Te Whatu Ora. You will also have the opportunity to ask questions during the webinar.

Join the webinar here.

 

There are currently significant outbreaks of dengue across the Pacific. This had led to an increase in dengue cases in NZ with 86 cases being reported so far in 2026, 75 of these associated with travel to the Cook Islands. These case numbers have been increasing week on week. Please remain vigilant for recent travellers who may present with symptoms of dengue.

 

Further information including symptoms, warning signs and advice for people travelling to the Pacific can be found in the Public Health Alert here.

Useful Information for patients can be found here

Te Whatu Ora has a produced a video on their Facebook page which may also be worth sharing on social media

 

Te Whatu Ora has declared the recent measles outbreak that started in September 2025 over, with more than 42 days since the last confirmed connected case on 21 December.

However, New Zealand remains at continued risk for further outbreaks, and the NPHS continues to closely monitor for and respond to further incursions or cases of measles, such as the travel-associated case in Tauranga confirmed last week.

 

Please continue offering MMR vaccinations to enrolled patients born in Aotearoa after 1969 who do not have evidence of full immunisation. For support with recall processes, performance monitoring and other process improvement tips please contact Practice Support.

 

The Hauraki PHO Outreach Immunisation Service (OIS) sends updates regarding referred patients to the General Practices Patient's Inbox. These will be marked with the subject "Outreach Immunisation Service".

IMPORTANT: If the update states the immunisations have been declined via Hauraki PHO OIS, please update the patient's immunisation record appropriately. OIS cannot currently enter declines directly into AIR, so you will not receive the decline as a notification update as you do for immunisations given elsewhere. 

 

If OIS is unable to contact whānau, we recommend placing an alert on the patient file and continuing recall efforts. Opportunistic immunisation is encouraged.

 

If whānau prefer immunisation through their practice rather than OIS, the same approach applies: alert, recall, offer.

We're currently working through Q3 & Q4 overdue immunisations (24-months) - practices will receive emails listing enrolled patients who are not yet fully vaccinated.

 

Flu vaccines will be available from early April. We encourage practices to ensure Vaccinating Health Workers (VHW) and RN Vaccinators have completed the IMAC VHW Supervisor training to support a smooth rollout.

 

 

 

Diabetes Education Session is scheduled for 6 March.

 

ADHD in adults: What’s changing - your role, your options, your support on Tuesday 17 February, 7 pm. 

 

The changes to ADHD prescribing have been well signalled - but many GPs and nurse practitioners haven’t had time to engage with what this means for their practice. Join us for a one-hour session that cuts through the complexity and presents clear, practical guidance. Find out more.
 

RNPCH Applications Registered Nurse Prescribing in Community Health applications open 2 Feb – 10 April. (Refer to Ashleigh Battaerd's email dated 23 Jan)

 

Perinatal Workforce Development Scholarship Now open.

Whāraurau are currently accepting expressions of interest for our perinatal mental health scholarship. Funded by Te Whatu Ora, it is open to kaimahi working with pregnant and postnatal  women/people/whānau experiencing mental health and addiction challenges.

The scholarship will cover costs associated with Introduction to Perinatal Psychiatry (PSME432) a paper offered through the University of Otago.

 

For more information, and to register your interest, click the link below.

Expressions of interest close Friday, 27 February at 5:00 pm