Categories | New Zealand Primary Healthcare Awards

The New Zealand Primary Healthcare Awards | He Tohu Mauri Ora recognise excellence in primary healthcare.

Achieving equity in health outcomes was at the core of these awards launched in 2020. This was further reinforced in our 2021 awards when primary care showed its worth in the midst of the COVID pandemic – delivering care in the community in turbulent times.

The huge burden placed on the sector saw the awards placed on hold, until now that is. Yes, the awards are back, to recognise and celebrate the champions of primary care in Aotearoa.

Against all odds, an under-resourced primary healthcare sector care continues to break new ground with creativity and determination.

We hear stories about innovative models of care, the use of technology to increase accessibility for patients, enormous efforts to help people stay well and ensure the sustainability of services.

In 2025 we also want to put the spotlight on opportunities for predicting and detecting health need, rather than finding and fixing. We believe there is great scope for innovation in the prevention and early detection of health risk.

What are we looking for?

We are looking for individuals and teams that are using smart ways to advance their understanding of what patients want and need in the planning and delivery of their services.

What initiatives are helping to fill service gaps and produce excellent results? Be it earlier intervention, genuine codesign, telehealth, novel ways to achieve shared decision-making and self-management, or wider coordination between providers and the community ‒ we want to hear about it all!

Delivering health equity in outcomes requires a dogged determination. We know primary care has what it takes, now share the knowledge.

He Tohu Mauri Ora

Mauri Mahi, Mauri Ora

He tāngata/wahine Pūkenga

He tāngata/wahine Mākohakoha

He tāngata/wahine tino māia

Through the work you are all doing, our whānau, our community and our nation prosper.

Award categories & descriptions

TEAM AND INDIVIDUAL AWARDS

Outstanding contribution to health

Nomination only The winner of this prestigious award will be a person working in primary healthcare who has made a stellar contribution to health and is an absolute inspiration to others. Their contribution could be made over a lifetime, or through one momentous invention or action, or for achieving recognition on the international stage. Whatever it is they have done, or are doing, it has made a significant positive impact on primary healthcare. That impact could be on health providers or teams, or on everyday New Zealand citizens – or both – or more than these. Their initiative or work could span any aspect of healthcare (eg, technology, business, clinical services, workforce development, education, research, etc).   Your nomination may include:   • Demonstration of patient-centred care and improvement of patient wellbeing, safety and satisfaction.   • Sector collaboration and participation.   • Positive impact on health equity.   • Impact on a community and or the sector.   Describe:   1. Why you believe this person is worthy of the award; include details of projects or initiatives or bodies of work and the impacts they have had and on whom.   2. Why you believe this person’s work will inspire others inside and outside of primary healthcare to reach for the same heights in their professional lives.   3. Any other awards or accolades or acknowledgements this person has received.  4. The single quality (eg, doggedness, originality, bravery), that you believe is their secret ingredient to success.

Boehringer Ingelheim nurse practitioner of the year

You can enter yourself or nominate someone else for this award. “You” indicates a personal entry or a nomination.  This award recognises an exceptional nurse practitioner who has addressed the needs of vulnerable populations through an NP-led model of care or other significant body of work. You will have an outstanding commitment to equity in health for those people who face barriers to engagement with primary healthcare services. You will have demonstrated professional leadership, imagination and innovation to achieve better outcomes and foster the growth and development of other NPs.  Your entry must demonstrate:   • how NPs can play a role in supporting improved access to services for all New Zealanders  • excellence in clinical care and health outcomes  • ongoing professional development and professionalism  • leadership  • 100% commitment to access to services and equity.  Describe:  1. The work undertaken to understand differences in the population served.  2. Your engagement with that population to understand its needs.   3. The design and delivery of effective solutions to improve patient safety and wellbeing.   4. The implementation of those solutions.  5. Your commitment to access to services either through local action and/or national  contribution to policy development.  6. How you worked collaboratively across disciplines/sectors to achieve your goals.  7. Any accomplishments that were beneficial to your team, practice and patients.

Practice nurse of the year

You can enter yourself or nominate someone else for this award. “You” indicates a personal entry or a nomination.  This award recognises the exemplary work of a practice nurse where they have made an outstanding individual contribution to patient care in their practice. You will have expended considerable effort and imagination, leadership, collaboration and innovation to address practice and patient-level issues.  Your entry must demonstrate:   • An exceptional individual who has used their creativity and professional skills to make a sustainable difference to practice and/or patients.  • Excellence in clinical care and health outcomes.  • Creativity and originality.  • Awesome leadership and professionalism.  • Collaboration with health professionals in other sectors.  • Positive impact, eg, on people’s health, health equity, GPs, nurses and others.  Describe:   1. How your individual efforts have overcome significant obstacles in meeting health  targets.  2. Your impact on improving equity; working to understand differences in, and engage with, the patient population.  3. The level of creativity and imagination applied to your projects or initiatives.  4. The development of high-quality partnerships, ie, with team, patients, patients’ whānau.  5. Any accomplishments that were beneficial to your team, practice and patients.

Medtech general practitioner of the year

You can enter yourself or nominate someone else for this award. “You” indicates a personal entry or a nomination.  This award recognises an exceptional GP working in general practice who has made an outstanding contribution to their practice and patient health. You will have demonstrated professional leadership, commitment to equity, imagination and innovation, to achieve better outcomes and foster the growth and development of other doctors working in general practice.   Your entry must demonstrate:   • creativity and originality  • awesome leadership  • professionalism in the primary healthcare setting  • positive impact, eg, on people’s health, GPs, nurses and others.  Describe:   1. How have you made a positive difference to patients, especially high needs patients, in your community.  2. Your work to engage with, and understand differences in, your patient population.  3. How your individual efforts have improved patient care and led to more equitable outcomes, eg, through carefully thought-out plans and improvement initiatives.  4. How your work is improving collaboration/integration among and between other  healthcare providers in your region.

GenPro general practice of the year

You can enter yourself or nominate someone else for this award. “You” indicates a personal entry or a nomination.  This award recognises the work of a multidisciplinary general practice team that has had a positive impact on the business of general practice and on improving patient outcomes. The team will show how it understands and responds to its patient population needs, is well managed and innovative. The judges will be interested in practices that have shown adaptability in the face of adversity/business interruption.   Your entry must demonstrate:   • innovation in service delivery to your local community  • positive impact on your customers and equity  • originality and creativity  • awesome leadership   • professionalism and innovation   • positive impact on equity   • adaptability   • collaboration.  Describe:   1. How your practice completed the goals it set for itself.   2. How your practice is managed. How are you making the most of your DHB funding as well as optimising your non-DHB funded revenue, and how you are managing your costs.   3. Leadership in your business. Consider: business planning and strategy, communication systems, stock management, team building, marketing and promotion, and staff performance management. Teamwork?   4. How you support the local community. Describe the special needs of your community and how you have helped to meet them. Consider: engagement with local community groups or patient groups and with health promotion campaigns or education.   5. The services your practice offers. Describe how you improved health or wellbeing  outcomes by identifying and filling gaps in the provision of primary healthcare. Describe how you worked with other healthcare providers. Consider: the scope and quality of services offered, reasons why the services were offered, and difficulties encountered offering the services.   6. Anything else that the judges should know about your practice.   Consider: participation in pilot studies and wider contribution to the profession or wider primary healthcare sector. You may wish to describe how your practice is responding to challenges

Chemist Warehouse young pharmacist of the year

You can enter yourself or nominate someone else for this award. “You” indicates a personal entry or a nomination.  This award recognises a young community or primary healthcare pharmacist who has worked as a pharmacist for fewer than five years and has made an outstanding contribution to customer health through their excellence in clinical pharmacy practice. You will have demonstrated professional leadership, imagination and innovation to achieve better outcomes and foster the growth and development of other primary care pharmacists.   Your entry must demonstrate:   • professionalism and innovation   • positive impact on equity   • adaptability   • collaboration.   Describe:   1. How you have made a real and sustainable difference to the provision of care in your  local community.   2. Your individual efforts to improve customer care which led to more equitable outcomes, for example, through codesign and well-thought-out plans and improvement initiatives.   3. How your work is improving integration between other healthcare providers in your region or nationally. Include any accomplishments that were beneficial to your team, practice and customers.

Pharmacy Guild of NZ community pharmacy of the year

You can enter yourself or nominate someone else for this award. “You” indicates a personal entry or a nomination.  This award recognises excellence in community pharmacy. It rewards a community pharmacy that has shown it understands its customers’ needs, is well managed, innovative, and engaged in the local community. It has a focus on achieving business success as well as measurable positive outcomes for customers, especially during times of hardship and uncertainty.   Your entry must demonstrate:   • innovation in service delivery to your local community  • positive impact on your customers and their health equity   • originality and creativity   • awesome leadership   • professionalism and innovation   • positive impact on equity   • adaptability   • collaboration.   Describe:  1. How your pharmacy completed the goals it set for itself.   2. How your pharmacy is managed. How are you making the most of your DHB funding as well as optimising your non-DHB funded revenue, and how you are managing your costs.   3. Leadership in your business. Consider: business planning and strategy, communication systems, retail and stock management, teamwork, marketing and promotion, and staff performance management.   4. How you support the local community. Describe the special needs of your community and how you have helped to meet them. Consider: engagement with local community groups or patient groups and with health promotion campaigns or education.   5. The professional services your pharmacy offers. Describe how you improved health or wellbeing outcomes by identifying and filling gaps in the provision of primary healthcare. And how you worked with other healthcare providers or offered non-traditional pharmacy services.   Consider: the scope and quality of services offered, reasons why the services  were offered, and difficulties encountered offering the services.   6. Anything else that the judges should know about your pharmacy.   Consider: participation in pilot studies and wider contribution to the pharmacy profession or wider primary healthcare sector. You may wish to describe how your pharmacy is responding to challenges.

Community or primary healthcare pharmacist of the year

You can enter yourself or nominate someone else for this award. “You” indicates a personal entry or a nomination.  This award recognises a community pharmacist who has made an outstanding contribution to customer health through their excellence in clinical pharmacy practice. You will have an outstanding commitment to equity in health outcomes and demonstrated professional leadership, imagination and innovation to achieve better outcomes, and foster the growth and development of other community pharmacists.   Your entry must demonstrate:   • creativity and originality   • awesome leadership   • positive on customers.     Describe:   1. How you have made a real difference to the provision of care in your local community.   2. How your efforts led to more equitable outcomes, eg, through carefully thought-out  plans and improvement initiatives.   3. How your work is improving integration between other healthcare providers in your  region.

Community pharmacy technician of the year

Nomination only. We know you have a great qualified (level 5) technician on your team, who stands out as a star performer. Now is the time to pitch them against other great performing pharmacy technicians in New Zealand. Tell us about how they may have streamlined work-flow processes, improved safety, embraced technology or improved patient outcomes. We would also like to hear directly from your nominee after you shoulder tap them, to self-reflect on their professional behaviours. Describe: 1. How they use critical thinking to perform checks on prescriptions to ensure safety and appropriateness for individual patients. 2. How they patients about medication usage, side-effects and when to seek medical assistance including effective communication, resource materials, utilization of consultation platforms such as Early Care or similar. 3. Their approach to ongoing professional development including: • keeping up to date with pharmaceutical and health knowledge • working to improve quality of services offered by contributing to team meetings, implementing efficiency etc • upskilling in clinical consultation support You as the pharmacist mentor, will complete the entry booklet to assess the technician’s mastery of key capabilities. The entry booklet can be downloaded from the award’s entry page. Once completed, upload the form into the online entry.

Medical Protection practice/business manager
of the year

You can enter yourself or nominate someone else for this award. “You” indicates a personal entry or a nomination.  This award recognises a creative individual who has been shown to have made a real and sustainable difference to key aspects of the business. You will showcase professionalism, be innovative and have a keen desire to deliver the best possible solutions to improve practice business, infrastructure and patient-focused services. For example, you may have championed and led the introduction of a new technology or system to improve workflow, reduced overheads and improve patient relationships and services, or created a more diverse workforce.   NB: Where this work is undertaken by a medical administrator or receptionist, they qualify to enter or be nominated for this award.   Your entry must demonstrate:   • creativity and originality   • awesome leadership   • collaboration.   Describe:   1. Individual efforts to improve patient-focused services which have led to greater patient safety, wellbeing and equity of health outcomes.   2. Any project or initiative that has resulted in improved business systems or infrastructure, practice time-management or profitability. Consider for example: new technology, premises design or patient communications.   3. What the overall impact was on the practice’s patient base, including impact on health equity. Describe your work to understand differences in, and engage with, the patient population.   4. An original solution to a common practice obstacle.   5. How you went above and beyond to get the best from the practice team. Include any  accomplishments that were beneficial to your team, practice and patients.   6. Any collaboration with health professionals or others.

KEY HEALTH OUTCOMES SECTION

Access Community Health primary and secondary
integration award

Entrants can be from primary or secondary care teams or, if the initiative was developed solely by one person, an individual may enter. You can enter yourself or nominate someone else for this award. This award recognises the success of a project or initiative that is a direct result of a primary and secondary care collaboration. The winner of this award will show how the integrated initiative transformed care to produce better more equitable health outcomes and/or lowered expenses of service delivery. The integration project can be an example from the wide spectrum of healthcare activities: IT, telemedicine, outpatient care, day-to-day delivery of care, new tool or resource etc.   Your entry must demonstrate:   • patient-centred focus   • originality and creativity   • sustainability and ability to be replicated nationwide   • positive impact on health equity   • innovation and collaboration.   Describe:   1. The problem to be overcome, with attending complexities.   2. The nature of the integration and the reasons why it was chosen to be the solution.   3. How this addressed fragmentation in patient services and enabled better coordinated and more continuous care.   4. How the initiative made a significant positive impact on one, some or all of: health outcomes, equity, accessibility, prevention, financial savings or other success.   5. How those involved worked differently from the norm and developed new systems, processes or models of care.   6. How the project or initiative or model could be reproduced nationwide.

Best mental health programme

You can enter yourself or nominate someone else for this award. “You” indicates a personal entry or a nomination.  This award recognises the achievements of a community based mental health programme or initiative that has made a significant positive impact on the lives of people with experiences of mental unwellness, especially those who are from communities facing social or economic challenges.   Your entry must demonstrate:   • collaboration with other health professionals   • positive impact on equity   • originality and creativity   • responsive patient-centred solution   • sustainability and scalability.   Describe:   1. The programme or initiative, including its aims.   2. How you identified and supported the mental health needs of your communities.   3. How people with experience of mental unwellness were involved in the planning and  implementation of the programme.   4. How your work is original and stands out from other similar work.   5. Outcomes and any formal or informal feedback.

Tamaki Health & Total Healthcare research and
education award

Best youth rangatahi health service

You can enter yourself or nominate someone else for this award. “You” indicates a personal entry or a nomination.  This award recognises the outstanding achievement of a health service designed and delivered for children or youth aged 10 to 25 years of age. You will have codesigned with the target group, made a significant positive impact on the lives of people in this group and strived to make the service appropriate, engaging and effective. You will have used imagination to achieve outstanding outcomes for your customers/patients.   Your entry must demonstrate:   • originality and creativity   • collaboration with patients and others   • positive impact on health outcomes and equity   • sustainability/scalability.   Describe:   1. The service, including its aims.   2. How people in this age bracket were involved in the planning and implementation of the service.   3. How you identified and supported the health needs of the customer/patient group.   4. The evaluation data, outcomes and any formal or informal feedback.

BD Rowa product or service of the future - prevention
and/or detection of health risk

You can enter yourself or nominate someone else for this award. “You” indicates a personal entry or a nomination.  This award recognises a product or service which has adopted a pro-active approach to the prevention and detection of health risk. The product or service will incorporate adaptable strategies, resilient practices and an innovative mindset.  The innovation could be clinical, business oriented, technological or other, but should be revolutionary!  Your entry must demonstrate : • originality and creativity  • patient-centred positive health outcomes  • practical use for primary care service providers  • positive impact on health equity  • adaptability: the ability to pivot and evolve in a changing primary health environment. Describe:  1. The challenges that propelled you to make change. 2. The service or product and its aims and how it detects and/or prevents health risk.   3. How you identified and supported the needs of your primary healthcare client or professional with this service, product or campaign.   4. How your efforts improved patient outcomes and health equity.   5. How your efforts can be sustained to ensure survival/growth.    6. The evaluation data, outcomes and any formal or informal feedback.

Innovation in service delivery award

You can enter yourself or nominate someone else for this award. “You” indicates a personal entry or a nomination.  This award recognises a forward-thinking person or people who have made primary healthcare services significantly better through new ideas and initiatives. For example, your innovation might have enabled healthcare to continue during a period of uncertainty or significantly improved patient experiences, access and or equity etc. The innovation could be clinical, business oriented, technological or other, but should be revolutionary!   Your entry must demonstrate:   • innovation   • collaboration and, where possible, integration  • sustainability and scalability  • positive impact on health equity.   Describe:   1. The problem that needed to be solved and how you went about solving it, ie, describe the innovation and how it was applied.   2. Any collaboration and integration with other healthcare professionals.   3. What the outcome was, on whom and why it was significant.   4. How the results were measured, sustained and able to be replicated.

Excellence and innovation in rehabilitation

You can enter yourself or nominate someone else for this award. “You” indicates a personal entry or a nomination.  This award recognises the achievements of excellence and innovation in a rehabilitation service or initiative in a community-based setting. This service or innovation will have made a significant positive impact on the ability of people recovering from medical and/or injury-based disability to regain independence in daily activities. Especially those who are from communities facing social or economic challenges.   Your entry must demonstrate:   • collaboration with other health professionals   • positive impact on equity   • originality and creativity   • responsive patient-centred solution   • sustainability and scalability.   Describe:   1. The programme or initiative, including its aims.   2. How you identified and supported the rehabilitation needs of your communities.   3. How people facing rehabilitation after illness or injury were involved in the planning and implementation of the programme.   4. How your work is original and stands out from other similar work.   5. Outcomes and any formal or informal feedback.

Best senior health service

You can enter yourself or nominate someone else for this award. “You” indicates a personal entry or a nomination.  This award recognises the outstanding achievement of a health service designed and delivered for people over 65 years of age. You will have codesigned with the target group, made a significant positive impact on the lives of people in this age group and strived to make the service appropriate, engaging and effective. You will have used imagination to achieve outstanding outcomes for your customers/patients. Your entry must demonstrate: • originality and creativity • collaboration with patients and others • positive impact on health outcomes and equity • sustainability and scalability. Describe: 1. The service, including its aims. 2. How people in this age bracket were involved in the planning and implementation of the service. 3. How you identified and supported the health needs of the customer/patient group. 4. The evaluation data, outcomes and any formal or informal feedback.

Spark Health excellence in information technology or
telehealth

You can enter yourself or nominate someone else for this award. “You” indicates a personal entry or a nomination.  This award recognises a primary healthcare individual, team or industry supplier that has harnessed the power of information technology and or telehealth to transform or enable a healthcare service. The initiative must be original and of benefit at least at the primary care level. It may have made clinical services more accessible to a specific audience, or improved customer related communications or hastened the secure delivery of patient information.   Your entry must demonstrate:   • originality   • sustainability and scalability   • positive impact on equity.   Describe:   1. The problem to be overcome, with attending complexities.   2. The nature of the initiative and the reasons why it was chosen as the solution.   3. How the initiative made a significant positive impact on one, some or all of: health outcomes, accuracy and efficiency, equity, accessibility, prevention, financial savings.   4. How this initiative is different from (stands out from) other IT or telehealth initiatives.

Business achievement award

You can enter yourself or nominate someone else for this award. “You” indicates a personal entry or a nomination.  This award recognises excellence in business acumen and achievement. The winner will be a business (or business owner/manager) that has focussed on achieving outstanding results for their primary care business. You may have had to pivot at pace to maintain viability. Or you were able to thrive in the face of adversity. Your drive and ambition to be profitable and able to adapt to meet industry challenges will be obvious, as will your willingness to learn as you go.   Your entry should demonstrate:   • adaptability and creativity   • collaboration   • positive impacts on your business and beyond   • sustainability   • leadership  • how you considered equity of health outcomes when managing your primary care business  Describe:   1. The nature of your business and the challenges you faced that propelled you to make change.   2. How your efforts improved aspects of your business and the wider health industry. 3. How your efforts can be sustained to ensure survival/growth.  4. Any difficulties you encountered and how you overcome them.

New Zealand Health Group best supplier, service,
product or campaign

You can enter yourself or nominate someone else for this award. “You” indicates a personal entry or a nomination.  This award recognises the delivery and support of a product, service or campaign that achieved outstanding results for customers/patients. The service, product or campaign has improved an aspect of customer care and or the quality and delivery of clinical care.   Your entry must demonstrate:   • originality and creativity   • positive impact on equity   • collaboration.     Describe:   1. The service, product or campaign and its aims.   2. How your efforts improved patient outcomes and health equity.   3. How you identified and supported the needs of your primary healthcare client or  professional with this service, product or campaign.   4. The evaluation data, outcomes and any formal or informal feedback.

Te Pae Ora award - excellence in culturally appropriate service delivery

You can enter yourself or nominate someone else for this award. “You” indicates a personal entry or a nomination.  This award recognises an outstanding primary care service that has been developed and implemented in response to the culturally specific needs of a Māori or Pasifika community. You will have designed and delivered a culturally appropriate service that has made a significant positive impact on the health equity/outcomes and/or engagement with primary healthcare services for Māori and/or Pasifika communities.  Your entry must demonstrate:   • Mātauranga Māori and/or traditional Pasifika health practices and beliefs were integrated into the service • research-based methodology, community consultation and collaboration with cultural advisors to overcome barriers to access and engagement with primary healthcare • consideration of the impact on whānau and the wider community that surrounds and supports the target consumers • sustainability and scalability.   Describe:  1. Why the service was developed – what aspect of primary healthcare care was targeted to improve.   2. How the values, beliefs and dignity of Māori and/or Pasifika health services users were acknowledged as a core component of the service delivered.   3. Collaboration with cultural advisors and other stakeholders such as whānau and the wider community.     4. A positive impact on health outcomes and/or engagement with primary healthcare services

Entries will be open in December 2024. Stay tuned!

ProPharma Supreme Award
The winner of the winners will receive the Supreme Award.