On Sunday 12 May we celebrate International Nurses Day to remember Florence Nightingale, the Mother of Modern Nursing, and her many contributions to our profession. It’s appropriate that this year on the same day, we also celebrate Mother's Day.

Pinnacle strongly disagrees with claims by Te Whatu Ora at a Building the Future of Health webinar series on Tuesday 7 May that up to 50 per cent of general practice work could be done by telehealth.

On 1 October 2023 Pinnacle CE Justin Butcher joined Pinnacle colleagues, kaumātua, and board and Māori governance rōpū members, in Rōtorua to officially gift one of our practices, Ōwhata Medical Centre, to Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Pikiao. Read Justin's thoughts on this partnership here.

We're thrilled to announce Hinetu Kallon Nikora, a patient service representative in our Patient Access Centre (PAC), as the inaugural recipient of Kia Puāwai, Pinnacle’s Māori Education Fund.

From 1 July 2024, Pinnacle is changing the focus of the quality plan to support capacity and capability building in general practice. There will also be a change to how quality plan funds are allocated. This funding is not attached to targets, and will enable you to build capacity.

Katoa, a new customised app, will make it easier for Pinnacle staff and the Midlands Health Network to learn and use Māori language, culture and customs in their day-to-day work. Katoa aims to support Pinnacle’s efforts to build a culturally aware health workforce across the network.

Ngā mihi, congratulations to Dr Jo, from all of us here at Pinnacle, on receiving a Distinguished Fellowship from The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP) | Te Whare Tohu Rata o Aotearoa.

Pinnacle supports and is excited by the potential establishment of a third medical school through Waikato University.

Since 2009 when we held the last full Pinnacle workforce survey, the primary care landscape has changed considerably. Now more than ever, your responses will help us better understand the complexities faced in primary care today, and how our services can best meet the people we serve into the future.  

On Friday 12 May we celebrate nurses across the globe as we remember the pioneer of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, and her legacy.