Every fortnight inside a whare at Parihaka Papakāinga in Taranaki, people can be found laughing and catching up with whānau in the Whakaihu Taiora clinic waiting room. They’re there because of a new health initiative designed to respond to community need.

A team-focused culture and forward-thinking approach at Whangamata Medical Centre in the Coromandel makes the busy rural practice a stand-out for locals and locums alike.

Point of care ultrasound (POCUS) was rolled out to 29 rural GP practices across the Pinnacle network in September, with overwhelmingly positive feedback from clinicians.

Pinnacle has developed a rural chest pain assessment method that allows low-risk patients in rural communities to be safely assessed and managed by their general practice, rather than travelling significant distances to hospital - often needlessly.