From 1 October 2024, invasive group A streptococcal infection (iGAS) has been added to Aotearoa New Zealand’s schedule of notifiable diseases. This places new legal requirements on health practitioners and laboratories for the management and reporting of both suspected and confirmed iGAS cases.

Western Institute of Technology at Taranaki (WITT) Diploma in Enrolled Nursing students are seeking clinical placements and employment at your workplace.

Nominations have opened for members of the new Rural Health National Clinical Network. Self-nominations and nominations of others are welcome, please submit your nominations by 20 October 2024 using the expression of interest form.

Hato Hone St John received formal notification last week from FIRST Union that members, including both ambulance personnel and Ambulance Communications Centre staff, will withdraw labour for six hours, from the start of their shifts on 27 September, and again on 30 September.

The Clinical Informatics Award is back in its sixth year, promoting the value that clinicians bring to whānau and community in providing data and digitally enabled care. The 2024 award is open to anyone with a clinical background and an interest in clinical informatics: this can be an individual or a clinical team, so get nominating today!

Until the end of September, two evidence-based medicine tools are available to all practices through the resources on the frontpage of Community Healthpathways: Dynamed and BMJ Best Practice.

Te Whatu Ora wants your opinion on which best serves your needs by filling in a brief survey. This is an important decision and a high response rate will be very helpful as they decide whether they can acquire one of the resources (subject to the very real fiscal constraints).

Funding of continuous glucose monitoring and automated insulin delivery begins on 1 October. Not all people living with T1D are known to the Taranaki Diabetes Integrated Team. To re-engage these whānau with the funded technology, the Pinnacle clinical diabetes specialist is available to run a query build in your practice and contact these patients to discuss changes in funding and available services for the initiation of insulin pump therapy / AID.

Funding of continuous glucose monitoring and automated insulin delivery begins on 1 October. The Waikato Regional Diabetes Service will take the lead in supporting whānau with Type 1 diabetes (T1D) with this change. Not all people living with T1D are known to the regional diabetes service. In order to re-engage these whānau with the funded technology, please do a query build of your patients with T1D so they can be informed of the localities of drop in clinics and CGM start education.

Te Whatu Ora acknowledge primary care efforts to immunise your practice population in the face of significant workforce challenges and community resistance and mistrust post-covid. Read the latest immunisation in general practice update (30 August) here.

Te Whatu Ora has received notice of further industrial action by members of the APEX union. This means that MRI and Nuclear Medicine Technologists will be undertaking further work to rule action, from 6am, Thursday 12 September to 6am, Saturday 21 September.