Allergy New Zealand and Pub Charity have joined forces to make 3,355 free EpiPen® auto-injectors available to New Zealanders who have a doctor-diagnosed allergy and are at risk of anaphylaxis. The joint initiative is called FundaPen2, and follows on from our successful 2019 FundaPen campaign. FundaPen2 is available to the public from Wednesday 9th February 2022. We have attached an invitation to your PHO to take up this opportunity and make your members aware of it for their patients. We have separately attached the second page of the invitation to make the key information easier to send to your members. We hope you can once again support this ‘game-changer’ for the allergy patients that your PHO supports & represents. Click here to read FUNDAPEN 2 PROTOCOL Click here to read FUNDAPEN 2 Kia ora koutou I orea te tautara ka puta ki waho. A problem is solved by continuing to find solutions. This has been a tough year, with both COVID-19 and the health and disability system reforms (HDSR) adding complexity to an already challenging time for whānau living with cancer - and those working tirelessly in the cancer sector. I want to acknowledge the incredible mahi of everyone involved in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer, and all the wonderful people who provide support. Thank you. I hope you get to spend some time with your whānau and friends over the festive season and can rest and recharge your batteries for 2022. Before the year ends, I wanted to provide you with some brief highlights from our recent work in both planning for the new health system and COVID-19. continued...
Cancer Treatment Services Planning Work continues to leverage the rare opportunity the HDSR provides to improve the delivery of cancer services and care in the health system. The Cancer Treatment Services Planning project has delivered a report detailing strategic guidance on recommended approaches to strengthen our cancer treatment services in Aotearoa New Zealand. The report centres on creating services that are whānau-centred, equitable, high-quality and sustainable. Advice from stakeholders has already had significant impact on the shape of the recommendations captured in this project, and we will continue to engage across the sector as we shift our focus to prioritisation, delivery and implementation. We are working closely with the HDSR Transition Unit to ensure the recommendations from this project are aligned and embedded in the Interim NZ Health Plan. This partnership approach with the Transition Unit will continue into 2022 and enables a strong focus on cancer services with Health New Zealand and the Māori Health Authority as these entities are established. If you would like to know more about this work, please contact Elinor.Millar@teaho.govt.nz. Endemic COVID-19 As a country, and a health system, we are moving into a new phase of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic; one in which COVID-19 may become more prevalent in our communities nationwide, as is currently the case in Auckland. In response to this shift, we have set up a Te Aho o Te Kahu COVID-19 team to work alongside and support the cancer sector. Current Te Aho o Te Kahu COVID-19 work includes:
The team has recently updated the COVID-19 vaccine advice for clinicians on our website. This includes vaccine advice for those undergoing stem cell transplantation after receiving at least one primary COVID-19 vaccine dose. These patients can now be offered a repeat of the entire primary COVID-19 vaccine course. This advice will continue to be reviewed and updated regularly. If you would like to know more about our endemic COVID-19 planning, please contact MoiraMcLeod@teaho.govt.nz. COVID-19 Monitoring The COVID-19 and Cancer Services Report to end October was released this week. The report found:
While we are pleased to see services have largely continued, we acknowledge whānau with cancer may have been impacted in significant ways by COVID-19, including by changes to the way care has been delivered. The next report will be released in February 2022. In brief:
Thank you Thank you for all your support, engagement and feedback over the last year. We could not do our job without you. As we look to 2022 we remain steadfast in our vision of fewer cancers, better survival and equity for all. Our last day in the office will be 22 December and our team will start returning to work on the 5 January. Meri kirihimete me te tau hou ki a koe me tō whānau hoki. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your family. New Māori Health Authority CE Linked to Hauraki Waikato 30 Year Journey Transforming Māori Health20/12/2021
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He is optimistic that the past days when Māori providers were seriously underfunded are now firmly placed behind them. “It’s now in her hands alongside her colleagues going forward,” says Mikaere. “Riana certainly has the capability to futurise and configurate equity funding given she is a health advocate, an active business woman, and has been our Chief Executive for the past 6 years.” Manuel comes with seasoned coal-face experience leading both the Primary Health Organisation and kaupapa Māori Health organisation which during the past two years of the pandemic has required leadership from the front line. “If you are going to create policy, change and reforms and it cannot reach the shopfloor, it has missed the point. I have spent the last 6 years working here at home. It’s been the great privilege of my career to date to serve my people that way,” she says. Her Chair agrees. “She has been able to manage both organisations concurrently on behalf of the people of Pare Hauraki-Tainui Waka, whilst maintaining strong collaborative relationships with Te Runanga o Kirikiriroa, Te Kohao Trust, Raukura Hauora o Tainui, Taumarunui Kokiri Community Trust, Tūwharetoa and Top of the Wanganui River people this outcome will prove to be great for all of our people in New Zealand-Aotearoa.” The new CE commences her tenure at the Māori Health Authority on 14 February 2022. “This reform highlights partnership and has an equity focus and after 30 years in the health sector, those are extremely important to me,” Riana says. “Ultimately if we get it right for Māori and Pacifika whānau, we’ll get it right for everybody.” As part of the directive to do something differently to change outcomes, Manuel will be based in South Auckland where the biggest population of Māori and Pacifika whānau live. “This signals we’re a change-making agent for all of our people. If we’re going to affect equity – if we are truly going to demonstrate partnership – South Auckland is a great place to start.” The first 100 days for the leader will be about getting the right team in place “because no man or woman is an island”. She brings a realist pragmatism gained from her days serving her people. “The biggest learning is how to make something big happen with very little. That’s going to be a mantra going forward, making sure we’re sharp, nimble and have the right thinkers around the table.” “Another lesson I learnt as a Māori Provider is you get a lot further along when you work collectively and collaboratively, I’m not interested in building fences between us and everyone else. What I’m interested in is breaking down the fences or putting in really convenient gates that we all can open, ensuring we can get to what we need.” Media Liaison: Sarah Sparks 021318813 sarah.sparks@sparksconsulting.co.nz Kia ora koutou, I know a lot of us are looking to next year already as we fast approach the end of this one, wishfully thinking not only about taking a well-earned break after the hard mahi everyone has done this year, but also getting excited about our borders reopening and seeing whānau and friends in New Zealand and around the globe. While I’m excited about New Zealand reconnecting with the world I’m also mindful that as we reopen our borders to let visitors in, we could also let diseases in. Given that we have seen an ongoing quarterly decline in childhood immunisation coverage, particularly in our more vulnerable populations, this is giving me cause for concern. Click here to read the full update The IMAC Clinical Immunisation Toolkit has been updated and is now available on our website. You can find it via the quick links, in written resources or here. Click here for more information Please see below message from the Ministry of Health in regards to the Patients First transition: Kia ora koutou You will have received advice from Patients First that from 31 December 2021 Patients First will cease operations and wind-up its business, products, and services. The Ministry has been working with Patients First for some months to support the transition of the Ministry funded services that Patients First has provided to the sector. The Ministry acknowledges the work of Patients First and recognises the early vision of Patients First in focusing on technology as an enabler for improved care within a general practice context. continued...
The services to be transitioned include: 1.Technology operations for GP2GP patient transfer, terminology service, integration, and interoperability services 2.A Clinical Document Architecture (CDA) supporting the New Zealand electronic Prescription Service (NZePS), GP2GP and MCIS (maternity). 3.Primary care cybersecurity engagement 4.Primary care sector and Practice Management System (PMS) vendor engagement From the 17th of December 2021 the Ministry will be supporting all aspects of these services to ensure continuity of service and to engage with the sector to strengthen and modernise services commencing in 2022. We have assembled a team of people within the Ministry and through external partners to do that. A few pointers as we lead up to Christmas related to the transition: What do you need to do? Nothing at this stage. The services previously provided by Patients Frist will remain in place, the only difference being it will be delivered by the Ministry. What if there is a problem with a service from December 17th 2021? Any support queries relating to technology services you are welcome to call the Ministry Call Centre 0800 855 066 or by email to info@health.govt.nz What are the plans for 2022? The Ministry will be reviewing services from an operational perspective and will seek advice from PHOs, General Practice stakeholders and Practice Management System vendors. We will be in touch early in 2022 to progress these discussions. Ngā mihi, As some of you may be aware, the Ministry of Health communicated in March that the measles campaign could be effectively paused while the health sector dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic and focused on COVID-19, Influenza and childhood vaccinations. Attached is a letter from Director-General Dr Ashley Bloomfield, requesting the sector to immediately restart the measles catch-up campaign with a sense of urgency. Click here to read the full letter regarding MMR campaign It takes the whole team to manage gout, and we encourage everyone to be involved: GPs, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists, podiatrists, kaiāwhina, patients and whānau. We’re committed to providing education to help improve health outcomes, and our latest resources focus on communicating effectively with people who have gout. continued...
Our gout resources are:
Please feel free to publish links to these resources and/or this press release in your internal communications. Our gout resources have also been promoted on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. He Ako Hiringa The Ministry of Health’s Mental Health and Addiction directorate has today published a number of reports and data sets. Some of this material is regulatory reporting and we have also included our year in review document. We are releasing this information proactively to share some highlights and challenges and to provide some general context around our wider work programme. Click here to read the full update |
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