Inaugural New Zealand Primary Healthcare Awards

Announcing the Inaugural New Zealand Primary Healthcare Awards | He Tohu Mauri Ora

1 August 2019

For the very first time, GPs, nurses, practice managers and pharmacists have the chance to show New Zealand who’s who in primary healthcare.

The Health Media Ltd and the Pharmacy Guild of New Zealand Inc are thrilled to announce the inaugural New Zealand Primary Healthcare Awards | He Tohu Mauri Ora.

The prestigious awards, which supersede the highly successful Pharmacy Awards, will support and reward innovation, collaboration and outcomes in the primary healthcare sector, that is, health services delivered in the community outside of hospitals.

The awards night will be a glittering black-tie dinner for more than 450 people, held at Auckland waterfront’s Shed 10, on 29 February, 2020.

The event will be attended by healthcare professionals, representatives from government agencies and pharmaceutical companies.

Spotlight on excellence
The Health Media managing editor Barbara Fountain is excited to see the company’s successful New Zealand Pharmacy Awards extended into an event that will put the spotlight on the work of primary care at large.

“A strong primary care sector is crucial to a successful New Zealand health system, providing great care for patients and a great work environment.

“We hope the NZ Primary Healthcare Awards will further encourage collaboration and innovation in primary care and allow New Zealanders to see how hard primary care practitioners work to improve their health and wellbeing and keep them out of hospital,” Ms Fountain says.

“We are looking forward to GPs, nurses and practice managers and pharmacists embracing the awards and seeing them as a brilliant way to foster excellence, innovation and teamwork.”

Pharmacy Guild Chief Executive Andrew Gaudin says Guild members are keen to celebrate and showcase excellence across the sector.

“Like our primary care colleagues, our collective aim is to improve access, health and wellbeing outcomes for Māori and non-Māori alike.

“We see that the new primary healthcare awards will help to celebrate the work that is already happening in the sector, and encourage even more collaboration,” Mr Gaudin says.

Wide health sector support
Generously supported by the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC), the new national awards are piquing the interest of a range of high-profile health sector groups that see value in promoting and celebrating excellence in primary care.

“Excellence in primary care is critical to achieving safe health outcomes for New Zealanders,” ACC Chief Executive Scott Pickering says.

“Preventing injuries, caring for those who have had an accident and looking after their recovery, are where ACC and primary carers work closely together.

“That’s why ACC is proud to be a supporter of these inaugural awards. We look forward to recognising some of our hard-working health professionals in this area with a particular focus on reducing patient harm in the ACC Patient Safety Award category,” Mr Pickering says.

Among other sponsors are the Ministry of Health, the Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand, Green Cross Healthcare and Douglas Pharmaceuticals.

Nominate your primary care star
The 20 NZ Primary Healthcare Awards categories cover pharmacy, general practice, nursing, practice management and industry suppliers.

Nominations will soon be open for the Outstanding Contribution to Health Award for an individual whose career in primary healthcare has been stellar. And people interested in entering the inaugural awards can register for updates on award categories, entry forms, key dates, sponsorships, ticket sales and more.

All this can be done on the NZ Primary Healthcare Awards website: nzphawards.co.nz.

ENDS

© Scoop Media