Both dulaglutide (Trulicity™) and Liraglutide (Victoza™) can be initiated for new patients who meet the special authority criteria from 1st July 2025.

Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand has provided further clarification of guidance for frontline healthcare services regarding testing of people presenting with symptoms consistent with measles. This guidance is applicable at all times, including during an outbreak.

Are you passionate about immunisation and keen to stay at the forefront of best practice? The Nursing Director and Nurse Lead team at Pinnacle MHN invite you to express your interest in attending the Aotearoa New Zealand Immunisation Conference 2025, held at Wintec City Campus, Hamilton on 4–5 September 2025.

Pathlab adheres to ISO Standard 15189:2022, ensuring quality and competence in their laboratories. Recent changes now require laboratories to include the name of any referral laboratory involved in testing. To meet this requirement, Pathlab plans to upgrade their result messaging to HL7 2.4, which allows them to include the referral laboratory’s name in reports sent to practice management systems. In the meantime, practices receiving results via HL7 2.1 messaging are considered to have agreed to receive results without the referral laboratory's name.

The New Zealand Society for the Study of Diabetes (NZSSD) is accepting applications for grants supporting professional and prescribing development in diabetes care. These include the Professional Development Award (closing 31 July), the Registered Nurse Prescribing Development Grant 1 for Semester 2 (closing 4 July), and the Registered Nurse Prescribing Development Grant 2 for Nurse Practitioner Practicum (open year-round).

Introducing Carey Campbell, Clinical Director, McCrae Tech, who will be speaking at our Pinnacle nursing conference on Saturday 11 October at our Kirikiriroa Hamilton office. Read about Carey in her bio.

This month Te Whatu Ora will launch the next phase of its service access campaign to improve access to health advice and care and to help manage the impact of respiratory illnesses on the health sector over the winter period. The public messaging will focus on encouraging people to access the right services for them and stay home when sick, and supporting referrals for the healthy homes initiative for those who are eligible.

This month, Collaborative Aotearoa has launched two of its three new eLearning modules focused on call handling and clinical triage, designed for call handlers and clinicians working in general practice. These courses are accessible on Collaborative Aotearoa's learning management system.

The provision of extended immunisation services is part of the kaupapa to improve childhood immunisation rates by offering services at a time that suit whānau who cannot attend during regular practice hours. These practices will offer childhood immunisations to both enrolled and non-enrolled whānau. Whānau are encouraged to contact these clinics directly to enquire about attending as booking in advance is preferable, however they will also accept walk ins.