With many whānau feeling the pinch this winter, ProCare is pleased to see that the Government has announced an additional $323.4 million to provide the 25% of ākonga/students (~220,000 children) experiencing the greatest socioeconomic barriers to education with access to a nutritious lunch on every school day.

ProCare welcomes the recent announcement from the Ministry of Health on the new vaping policies in an effort to be smokefree by 2025 and curb youth vaping rates.

Many of the recommendations ProCare made in its submission on these policies have been actioned, however, there is still more to be done to make a real difference to youth vaping rates. 

ProCare in partnership with the Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT), was pleased to announce the winners of the Top Pacific Nurse award for 2023 at the Pasifika Thanksgiving Celebration on Friday 26 May, where over 40 graduates completed the Pacific Nursing programme. 

The ProCare Top Pacific Nurse Award aims to recognise high-achieving Pacific nursing students, and to encourage interest in primary care (GP) nursing and support for the wider community.

Healthcare provider, ProCare, and Asian health and community organisation, Asian Family Services, are delighted to announce they have signed an agreement to formalise their partnership and commitment to support each other’s strategic objectives to improve the wellbeing of our Asian communities.

Ready Steady Quit, ProCare’s smoking cessation service, is getting to the heart (and lungs) of the issue this Smokefree Day – 31 May.

Mihi Blair, Kaiwhakahaere Hauora Māori, Mana Taurite (GM of Māori Health and Equity) at ProCare says: “Smoking can be a really tough addiction to kick and there is plenty of stigma around why people smoke. We wanted to share the stories of our clients to remove the judgement that comes from those who don’t understand some of the reasons people started smoking, and to inspire others to give up smoking too.”

ProCare’s recent workforce survey reflects the sentiment felt across the industry – staff shortages and workforce resourcing issues are putting immense pressure on medical professionals trying to keep the community healthy.

The top three issues raised in ProCare’s survey of general practices were:

1. Staffing and workforce resourcing issues

2. Meeting the needs and demands of patients

3. Having access to sufficient funding.

Leading healthcare provider ProCare has today welcomed the removal of the $5 prescription co‑payment, as announced in today’s Budget.

Bindi Norwell, Chief Executive at ProCare says: “Scrapping the $5 prescription fee is something that we have called for from the Health Minister, so we are delighted that our calls have been heeded. Additionally, we are pleased for our community pharmacy colleagues, who have also been calling for this for some time.

Leading healthcare provider ProCare is disappointed that general practice nurses have been left out in the cold in today’s Budget in terms of receiving pay parity with their District counterparts.

Bindi Norwell, Chief Executive at ProCare says: “Today’s Budget may have the title of ‘Support for today, building for tomorrow’ however, there has been little support for general practice nurses who support their patients day in and day out in with their health and wellbeing needs.”

Leading healthcare provider, ProCare, has today responded to the announcement in Budget 2023 that from 30 June 2024, no patients will wait longer than 12 months for treatment, from the date the decision to treat is made.

Dr Craig King, Chair of ProCare Network Board says: “While we acknowledge this is a step in the right direction, 12-month wait times are still at an unacceptable level. It is our belief that primary care could be better funded and equipped to help get a better result. Allowing primary care to take a solutions-focus approach would reduce the pressure off hospitals, providing earlier interventions, less invasive treatments and in some cases prevent the need for hospital-based surgery at all.

Leading healthcare provider, ProCare, has today welcomed the confirmation of approximately a $5.9m uplift in funding for 19 of its practices following the announcement by the Government of an additional $37 million for some general practices to address the burden of under-funding for Māori and Pacific providers, and practices with high Māori and Pacific populations to enable them to continue delivering high-quality services.

Leading healthcare provider, ProCare, welcomes Pharmac’s decision to allow three months of ADHD medication to be funded when prescribed electronically from 1 June 2023. 

In New Zealand, an estimated 280,000 people have ADHD*. This decision will make patients’ lives easier, reduce the burden on GPs and other health professionals, and free up appointment times for other patients who need to see their doctor. 

Leading healthcare provider ProCare, has announced that it is combining its Māori Advisory Committee, colloquially known as ProMa, into its Health (PHO) Limited Board with immediate effect.

Today’s announcement is about ensuring that all current and future decisions at a PHO Board level uphold the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

CareHQ, the online GP service and joint venture between ProCare and Southern Cross Health Insurance, has partnered with Auckland City Mission - Te Tāpui Atawhai to launch a co-designed telehealth clinic in support of the Mission’s Calder Health Centre.

The new collaboration means Calder Health Centre can now triage telehealth appropriate cases onsite at the centre, using nurse-led hybrid consultations. Alongside the clinic’s nursing team, CareHQ’s Specialist GP Fellows remotely engage with the patient, using telehealth to deliver a whānau-centric approach.

Leading healthcare provider, ProCare, is delighted to announce a partnership with South Seas to support capacity and capability for the Le Afio’aga o Aotearoa (the Ōtara-Papatoetoe area Locality), which is one of the 12 initial localities as announced by Te Whatu Ora.

The Health Reforms have introduced the concept of ‘localities’. This kaupapa calls for a whānau centred population-based approach to improve how healthcare is delivered in communities. Localities will also address health and wellbeing, recognising the range of socio-economic factors that can impact on health outcomes.

With ‘flu season’ fast approaching for 2023, ProCare welcomes the announcement from Pharmac to extend funding for a second consecutive flu season to include tamariki aged 6 months to 12 years and Māori and Pacific people aged 55-64 years old.

Bindi Norwell, Chief Executive at ProCare says: “It’s been a tough start to the year for many with the floods, cyclone Gabrielle and the uplift in covid cases. Preventing whānau from getting sick with the flu will help ensure children can attend as many school days as possible throughout winter, will help keep parents at work and ultimately take away some of the stress of juggling sick family members during the winter period.

Youth voices were heard loud and clear at Pou Tautoko Rangatahi – ProCare’s first ever youth health forum. Held on 25 March, rangatahi from across Auckland gathered at the University of Auckland to spend a day interacting with industry experts in youth mental health, alcohol, vaping and other drugs, and share their thoughts on how healthcare can better tackle these issues. 

This weekend leading healthcare provider, ProCare, will be hosting ‘Pou Tautoko Rangatahi – a Youth Health Forum’, with the aim of better understanding some of the key health issues currently faced by young people across Auckland.

The name of the forum Pou Tautoko Rangatahi was gifted to us by tangata whenua and means “focused on solutions, working alongside, and leading with the vision embedded in the youth advisory values. Pou gives the steadfast strength and importance in any kaupapa or wero”.

ProCare Fresh Minds, Tāmaki Makaurau’s primary mental health and wellbeing service, has been working with community groups in the West Auckland area to support the mental health of residents during the clean-up after the recent floods and cyclone damage.

While the immediate physical impact of the recent adverse weather events has been noticeable on the homes, roads and infrastructure of our communities, the secondary impacts of leaving individuals homeless, rain-weary, fatigued, and anxious is starting to show through.

CareHQ, the online GP service and joint venture between ProCare and Southern Cross, has expanded its platform to bring the ease and convenience of telehealth consultations to even more people across New Zealand.

The virtual GP service has already been in operation for two years, providing essential consults for New Zealanders.
Until now, CareHQ’s service consisted of online consultations for patients between 7am and 7pm, seven days a week, but three new clinic types will expand on that primary care offering.

ProCare, a leading healthcare provider, has today announced the recipients of the ProCare Annual Prize in General Practice scholarships for the 2022 calendar year, in partnership with the University of Auckland, as Hannah Corban (Ngāpuhi) and Kun-ka Miha Yoshihara-Leger, of Pacific descendants from Tonga and Kiribati as well as Japanese lineage.