GP Pulse March 2013 Issue 21 - The Royal New Zealand College of ...

PolicyCollege submissions on behalfof membersA reminder about where to find themThe College makes a large number ofsubmissions on behalf of its members.The submissions cover a wide range oftopics and are largely in response tothe Ministry of Health, PHARMAC, orother health agency consultations orrequests for feedback.In 2012, we made 29 submissions ontopics as diverse as mental health andaddiction, vulnerable children andchild poverty, community pharmacyand self-care.Our first submission of 2013 was tothe Pharmacovigilance Ethics AdvisoryGroup at the University of Otagoon a document entitled ‘MedicineSafety for New Zealanders: EthicalIssues regarding the use of routinelycollected data from General Practicefor Pharmacovigilance’.You can find submissions we havemade on our website at www.rnzcgp.org.nz/submissions and we will reporton ones of particular interest orsignificance here in GP Pulse. See theFebruary 2013 issue for a summaryof our submission on Diagnosis andManagement of Prostate Cancer inNew Zealand Men.Rural Network conference 2013This week it’s the New Zealand Rural General Practice Network’s2013 conference – the country’s showcase rural health event.The 2013 conference, scheduled forMarch 13-17 at the Rotorua EnergyEvents Centre, carries the theme‘Let’s Get Connected’. The conferencewill feature topics such as the RuralBroadband Initiative and technology inhealth, and will also forge links withrural health and other groups suchas the New Zealand Rural HospitalNetwork (NZRHN) and the newlyformedRural Health Alliance AotearoaNew Zealand (RHANZ).There’s also a host of pre-conferenceworkshops, concurrent sessions andkeynote speakers – in fact, somethingfor every member of the practice team:doctors, nurses, practice managers andadministrators.Keynote speakers include ProfessorLesley Barclay (head of SydneyUniversity Centre for Rural Health,School of Public Health), Te UruroaFlavell (Maori Party MP, Waiarikielectorate), Chai Chuah (nationaldirector of the National Health Board)and Graeme Osbourne (director,Information Group in the Ministryof Health’s National Health Boardbusiness unit), and Henare O’Keefe(Hastings District Council councillor andcommunity advocate) and more.The popular Nurses’ Forum returns.Also returning to the programme is thePat Farry Rural Health Education TrustFun Run and Walk. The course for theevent – now in its second year – is theRotorua lakefront, offering participantsthe opportunity to take in the sights,sounds and smells of this uniquesetting. Southern Cross Primary Carehas again kindly sponsored the fun runand walk. Be in on the early morningaction, get a fresh start to the day’sprogramme, and get the t-shirt and achance to win a prize!Half-day with RHANZ a highlightThe conference includes a half-dayon 13 March dedicated to the newlyformed Rural Health Alliance AotearoaNew Zealand (RHANZ). Modelledon the Australian Rural HealthAlliance, RHANZ brings togethermedical, nursing, pharmacy andallied health groups, with social andpolitical organisations involved inrural communities to develop policyadvice and advocate on behalf ofcommunities with a strong unifiedcross-sector voice.The RHANZ programme will featurekeynote speakers, AGM anddinner. Speakers include ProfessorLesley Barclay (head of SydneyUniversity Centre for Rural Health,School of Public Health), Robin Steed(NZ Institute of Rural Health), LindaClarke (Dairy Women’s Network) andJeanette Maxwell (Federated Farmers).For more informationabout the conference:www.conference.co.nz/nzrgpn13P16 : ISSUE 21 : March 2013