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To our Valued Local Referrers, Did you know we have a secure, user-friendly online referral system? Our online referral system can be used for all services at Pacific Radiology in the Waikato region and is a secure system which cannot be found via Google search. From your phone or computer go directly to the site and save it as a bookmark to use at any time. https://www.onlinereferral.co.nz Kind regards, Kevin and the Team at Pacific Radiology Waikato There appears to be confusion still regarding appropriate urgent or acute testing and routine testing requests. As per the lock-down levels last year, Pathlab laboratories ask please that all requestors ensure that they choose wisely. Click here to learn more Kia ora, Pharmac is consulting on a proposal to widen access to, and award principal supply of adalimumab (biosimilar). We want to hear from people about this proposal which would give more New Zealanders access to adalimumab. Please share this information We want to make sure everyone who might be interested is aware of these proposed changes. Please share this information with people you think might want to provide feedback on this consultation. continued...
Details about this proposal We are proposing to make changes to the funded brand of adalimumab, from Humira to a citrate-free biosimilar called Amgevita. Amgevita is Medsafe registered and is supplied by Amgen in more than 40 countries around the world. If the proposal is approved, a number of changes would occur. These include:
Submitting your feedback We welcome and value your feedback on this proposal. Please provide feedback by 5 pm, Wednesday 22 September 2021. Feedback can be submitted using this webform or emailed to consult@pharmac.govt.nz. Guidance when in private homes and other outreach service situations: While each provider will have their own guidance and protocols in place for use of PPE, our advice is set out in the Ministry of Health COVID-19 PPE guide for community care providers working Alert Levels 3 and 4. The NZ Child and Youth Clinical network for Eczema would like to advertise a vacancy on the clinical reference group. They are specifically looking for representation from a WCTO health professional, involved in caring for Māori and Pacific Island whanau. We would appreciate your assistance by sharing this call for EOI with all of your providers People may contact me for further information if they would like to, via the details below Terms of reference Expressions of Interest Kia Ora Koutou The response of primary care to the latest outbreak of Covid-19 in Aotearoa has been amazing. Despite the understandable fatigue that people are feeling 18 months into this pandemic, community-based healthcare workers, both clinicians and non-clinicians, have stepped up once again, and not only continued to provide essential health services, but have exceeded previous records for both vaccinations and swabbing. In the Covid-19 vaccine immunisation programme (CVIP), we had drawn up contingencies to support on-going vaccination during an outbreak but much of our thinking assumed a reduction in the daily numbers of vaccinations. That has not proved to be the case at all with over 175,000 vaccinations being given since the vaccine programme restarted on 19th August. continue...
Whilst it is only right that your achievements are recognised, it is also important to acknowledge the sacrifices that are made by your whānau and friends who are having to go through lockdown without you. Please let them know that this is appreciated also. We hope that you are seeing the praise that is being given to primary care by both Ministers and the wider Ministry of Health. The vaccination programme is only one aspect of our response, but those of us working in CVIP at the Ministry of Health wanted to say a personal thank you. It does feel that we are working well together and that we are truly part of the same team. A response of this scale is challenging to manage, and there are times when you will understandably be frustrated by some of the messaging and requests that come from the centre, but we believe that we are working towards the same goal, and that this common purpose helps us out when times are hard. We are not sure how long this current outbreak will last, and we do not know what future challenges will be thrown at us but working together we are confident that we will handle whatever comes. It shall all be alright in the end, and if it’s not alright, it’s not the end. Kia Kaha, Kia maia, Mia manawanui Be Strong, Be Brave, Be Steadfast The current community outbreak of the COVID-19 Delta variant has caused a huge surge in local demand for SARS-CoV-2 testing, averaging over 2000 tests per day over the past 5 days for Pathlab. Other microbiology and molecular requests need to be urgently reduced in order to re-allocate staff for COVID testing. We would ask please that all “routine” testing is minimised as much as possible. Please click here to view the full update General practices in the Coromandel Peninsula have been working hard to continue swabbing and delivering the COVID-19 vaccine throughout the latest lockdown. The teams are “stretched thin” but are committed to getting the job done, says Thames GP and Hauraki PHO clinical director Martin Mikaere. Read the full NZ Doctor Article here The Stakeholder Information Sessions which were scheduled to be held next week at North Shore Hospital in Auckland (Monday 23rd August) and in Whangarei (Tuesday 24th August) have been rescheduled due to COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. These sessions are an opportunity to explain the changes to the Primary Maternity Services Notice 2021, the Health Information Standards Organisation (HISO) Maternity Care Summary Standard and the New Zealand Perinatal Spine projects. The table below shows the revised dates. Please also note the change of venue for North Shore Hospital. If you have already confirmed to attend on either of the above dates, we will transfer your RSVP details to the rescheduled dates. If you are not able to attend on the rescheduled date for your chosen session, then please email us at: primarymaternity@health.govt.nz to let us know. Should there be any changes to the COVID-19 Alert Level, these events may be postponed again in accordance with the guidance issued for gatherings and events. Rescheduled Dates: Thursday 14th October 11.30am – 4.00pm Auckland North Shore Hospital 124 Shakespeare Rd Takapuna Auckland Whenua Pupuke Auditorium Ground Floor Friday 15th October 10.30am – 3.00pm Whangarei Northland DHB Maunu Road Whangarei Tohorā House Whangarei Hospital Campus Tangihua meeting room We would like to thank you for your essential work at this time. Ngā mihi, Tēnā koutou On behalf of the Support and Consultation for End of Life in New Zealand group, the Ministry of Health would like to invite medical practitioners and psychiatrists who would like to be included on the lists of practitioners willing to provide parts of the assisted dying services to register their interest. To find out more, and to register your interest to be included on the Support and Consultation for End of Life in New Zealand (SCENZ) group lists, please go to this online form here: https://consult.health.govt.nz/regulatory-assurance/a4926ee3/ Assisted dying will be legal in New Zealand from 7 November 2021. The introduction of assisted dying means that a person with a terminal illness who meets the eligibility criteria can request medication to relieve their suffering and end their life. continued...
As part of the implementation, the statutory body for the assisted dying service, the SCENZ group, was recently formed. One of the roles of the SCENZ group is to oversee the lists of: · replacement attending medical practitioners (where a person seeks the name of a practitioner to provide the service for them. This practitioner will support someone who is terminally ill to make an application for assisted dying, and undertake a first assessment) · independent medical practitioners (to undertake the second independent assessment)
The lists will be drawn on by the SCENZ group, who will work with the assisted dying service secretariat in the Ministry of Health, to connect eligible people with practitioners as required. The list registration will remain open and will be enduring over time. The Ministry continues to work directly with the health and disability sector as part of the implementation of the Act. This includes ongoing engagement with Māori health providers, including to ensure Māori practitioners who may wish to provide assisted dying services are aware of the SCENZ list registration processes. If you have questions about the SCENZ list registration of interest processes please contact the implementation team eolc@health.govt.nz Find out more about the SCENZ group here. Additional information about the function of the SCENZ lists The SCENZ group lists are required under the End of Life Choice Act 2019 (the Act) to help support equitable access to assisted dying by eligible people. Any medical or nurse practitioner who is suitably qualified, and willing to do so, will be able to provide parts of the assisted dying process. If a person requests assisted dying from a medical practitioner who does not provide assisted dying services due to a conscientious objection, the medical practitioner is legally required to inform the person of their objection, and tell the person they have the right to ask the SCENZ group for the name and contact details of a medical practitioner who is willing to participate in assisted dying. A person will also be able to contact the SCENZ group directly for help to find a medical practitioner if they do not want to speak to their own medical practitioner about assisted dying. Find out more about the delivery and funding of assisted dying services in this implementation website section. Training and resources A key part of the Ministry’s implementation work is providing training, information and guidance for health professionals to support preparation for the introduction of assisted dying services. In September, a package of e-learning modules for health practitioners choosing to provide assisted dying services will be made available. There will also be practical training provided as part of the assisted dying workforce forum being hosted in Wellington at the end of September. The latest guidance and training resources for health professionals can be found on the Ministry’s LearnOnline platform. Details of the training, and information sheets, are also available on the Ministry’s website under the Implementation resources section. If you have questions, please contact us eolc@health.govt.nz Nāku noa, nā The End of Life Choice Act implementation team |
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