Pinnacle comments on approval of new PHO

Pinnacle MHN has noted the approval of a new primary health organisation, thePHO, and says practices should have genuine choice about who represents them. At the same time, Pinnacle believes this decision raises concerns about the timing and wider impact on population health.

Pinnacle chief executive Justin Butcher says practices need clear information about what PHOs actually do for them and their communities.

“Practices have the right to choose the PHO that best fits their needs and their communities. We absolutely support that, and we’re confident in the value Pinnacle offers across Te Manawa Taki,” he says.

“At the same time, this decision comes at an incredibly challenging moment for primary care. General practice is facing a sustained workforce crisis, we’re dealing with significant equity gaps and declining immunisation coverage, and there is real anxiety about threats like measles. In this environment, what the system needs most is stability, shared focus and collaboration, more than it needs additional structural complexity.”

Justin says the focus should remain on supporting practices to deliver care, not on fragmenting the primary care system.

“Setting up a new PHO is not a simple task. It is about far more than holding a contract. It requires robust infrastructure, proven systems, and experienced teams to manage funding, clinical programmes, data, digital tools, and relationships with Te Whatu Ora, iwi partners and community providers,” he says.

“All of those things directly affect practices and their enrolled populations. If they are not in place from day one, it is practices and whānau who bear the risk.”

Pinnacle has been working with general practices and communities across Te Manawa Taki for more than 30 years, with a strong focus on equity, rural health and extended care teams. The network supports around 87 practices and more than 470,000 enrolled people across Waikato, Taranaki, Lakes and Tairāwhiti.

“PHOs across the country have spent the last few years doing everything they can to support practices – through Covid-19, workforce shortages, funding uncertainty and increasing complexity,” Justin says.

“In our region, that has meant standing up extended care teams, investing in practice facilities, strengthening Māori and iwi-led services, supporting childhood immunisation and recall work, and advocating hard at national tables for sustainable funding and fairer rural support for general practice. Those things are only possible because we’ve built deep, long-term relationships and have the scale and infrastructure to back practices every day.”

Justin encourages practices to take time to consider the full implications before changing PHO.

“We would urge practices to look beyond headline messages and ask detailed questions about funding, contracts, data, equity programmes, workforce support, digital tools and risk. Changing PHO is a significant decision for any practice, and it needs to be made with a clear line of sight to what it means for patients, whānau and the long-term sustainability of the business,” he says.

“For our part, Pinnacle will continue to do what we’ve always done, which is to advocate strongly for general practice, invest in services that matter, and work alongside practices and partners to improve access, equity and outcomes across Te Manawa Taki.”