Welcome to another edition of Toitū te Oranga. 

 

 

A very warm welcome to Ruth Redfern who has recently joined the team at Tū Tonu Hauora as Practice Manager.

 

Due to popular demand, our Practice Support team are planning future in-person workshops to better support our Practice Partners. Please click here to complete a short survey to help us understand what topics and systems are most relevant to you.

 

Health NZ is consolidating the corporate website (www.tewhatuora.govt.nz) and consumer website (www.info.health.nz) into one site: www.healthnz.govt.nz. The goal is to provide a single national website of trusted information, for consumers, stakeholders and staff. Information for health professionals and the wider sector is gradually moving and will be completed by mid-2026.

 

From 1 May 2026, the updated Health Information Privacy Code 2020 (IPP3A) requires General practice to inform people when their personal information is collected indirectly (e.g. from referrals or other agencies). The Practice Support Team will also be in touch with specific suggested action. 

 

Helpful resource links for further guidance:

Health New Zealand is working with the sector to introduce a change to the NHI number format to extend the range of NHI numbers available. The current format will be issued until 30 June 2026, after which the new format of AAANNAX (3 letters, 2 numbers, 1 letter, and 1 alphabetic check character) will be introduced for all new NHI numbers.

Location: Waikato, Lakes
When: 12 May, 5:30pm (training starts 6pm)

The ACC MRI pathways support GPs and nurse practitioners to make direct referrals for MRIs, for patients who have had a course of active physiotherapy.

To gain accreditation to make MRI referrals, GPs and nurse practitioners must attend an in-person education session and complete online learning modules. Please click here to register to attend this practical assessment session. Light refreshments will be provided.

 

This is for primary care nurses and allied health who work alongside whanau living with diabetes. This includes discussions about steroids with Dr Ryan Paul, and how to prevent elective surgery delays with Helen Morton, who will also take you through the newest prescribing resource. Some of these are topics have been covered previously, but they keep resurfacing as issues in primary care.

Venue: River Room, Pinnacle, 711 Victoria Street Hamilton. 

Registrations close 5pm Friday 15th May or when places are filled. 

To register please email Jadie.Bailey@pinnacle.health.nz

 

Thursday 21 May 2026 2pm - 3pm: Parenting education and support

Tuesday 23 June 2026 3pm - 4pm: Healthy eating and activity

Wednesday 13 August 2026 10:30am - 11:30am: Speech development

 

Location: Pinnacle Office - Ground flour, River Room, 711 Victoria street. Hamilton

29 July 2026, 8:30am - 30 July 2026, 4:30pm

17 November 2026, 8:30am - 18 November 2026, 4:30pm

 

To support primary care teams, Medical Sexual Assault Clinicians Aotearoa (MEDSAC) has been contracted by Health New Zealand to deliver a suite of free, online learning modules specifically designed for general practice settings.

 

Supporting a strong, skilled and fair rural health workforce in Hauraki

Health NZ is reimbursing non-HNZ health and disability employers for the costs of vaccinating their frontline staff against influenza this winter, in a bid to safeguard New Zealand's health workforce and those in their care.

The maximum payout will be $40.25 including GST per eligible person and all claims must be submitted by 30 September 2026. More details are on the Health NZ website.

 

Pharmac is reviewing the Exceptional Circumstances Framework and now is the chance, click here to have your say. The first consultation is open until 5.00pm on 7 June.

 

Recent changes to unenrolment settings in the National Cervical Screening Programme (NCSP) Register were made on 21 April 2026. Cervical screening in asymptomatic people over the age of 75 years is not recommended.

 

1. The NCSP Register will now automatically unenroll people over the age of 75 years, unless they are in follow-up, in which case they remain enrolled for up to 5 years after their follow-up test is due.

2. A new Unenrolled Reason ‘Age equal or greater than 75’ is being added.  The Unenrolled Reason will be used when unenrolling participants who are 75+ years and can be unenrolled from the programme.

3. The existing Unenrolled Reason of ‘Over 70’ is being renamed to ‘Age 65 + years and exit testing criteria met’.  This means that participants will be unenrolled between ages 65 and 70 if they have met the exit criteria.  Any participant that is already unenrolled with reason of ‘Over 70’ will be updated to the new reason.

 

You will notice changes to screening history and PHO status reports for participants who are unenrolled for this reason.

If you have any questions, please email NCSP@tewhatuora.govt.nz.

Click here to access the NCSP April 2026 Pānui updates.