This new once a month service is being trialled in South Taranaki. General practice is encouraged to refer patients for any sexual health concern including STIs, management of symptoms, contact tracing and more. Referrals can be made via BPAC.

This long awaited document was developed through the National Clinical Leaders Forum that describes the transfer of care and test result responsibility standards as agreed across the sector.

Te Whatu Ora is undertaking a project to strengthen the student placement system across Aotearoa. As part of this work, they are working to increase the number of clinical placement opportunities in all health settings, particularly with Māori and Pacific providers and in primary and community settings. This survey is open until Friday 3 May and will take 5-10 minutes to complete.

From 24 April, paediatric and adult dermatology will have their own separate dermatology referral boxes on Best Practice. You can now easily access referral choices for both patient groups by searching "dermatology" in the "Refer to" section.

Pinnacle is here to support our network. Recent changes have been made to the appointment process for contract providers at PSAAP. These updates impact how your practice selects an agent to represent your interests during negotiations. We encourage you to carefully review the information about these changes. A list of organisations and agents that are offering to represent you, including Pinnacle, and the link to the contracted providers nomination form, are also provided.

Read the latest from GPNZ including a message from the chair Bryan Betty, financial stability of Primary Health Organisations, Te Whatu Ora Primary Care Development Programme, and more.

Collaborative Aotearoa has launched a survey designed to gather valuable insights from paramedics working in general practices across Aotearoa. Please share this with paramedics within your network, as their input is invaluable to this initiative.

On Tuesday 16 April, between 1.30-4.30pm, primary healthcare providers seeking to make contact with the Waikato Emergency Department, or any other hospital services, are asked to call the main switchboard number 07 839 8899. Your call will be directed to the relevant backup landline extension or pager. Please note there may be a delay in a response to this.

In this month's newsletter, EAP look at the effects of deep breathing on physical and mental health and introduce their new app habithealth+.

Ka Hono is a collegial support service facilitated by the Bay of Plenty / Waikato faculty of RNZCGP. It is open to all GPs (including non-faculty members) and all GP registrars in the GPEP program (years 1-3).