9 September 2025
At Whānau Āwhina Plunket we are privileged to be welcomed into many thousands of homes every year as trusted health professionals. Being at the frontline means we see first-hand the joys and the challenges parents experience – and that drives everything we do.
This has been a busy and rewarding year as we continue to develop our services in response to the needs of whānau across Aotearoa.
One area we have focused on is immunisation. Childhood immunisation rates have declined worldwide, and we know that whānau can face barriers to accessing this vital healthcare service. We were excited to be given establishment funding from Health New Zealand to set up and pilot immunisations in certain parts of the country.
Just eight months on from the start of this pilot, we have now trained 29 of our nurses as vaccinators, with another 70 in training, and set up new immunisation services at 14 sites nationwide. A further six sites are planned across the country. The pilot runs until June 2026, and we are gathering feedback to ensure each community’s needs are met.
Our approach to these pilots is to support the health system by offering immunisation services in communities where they are most needed and how they are most needed – including in-clinic, at home or as part of community events.
We continue to work alongside colleagues and partners including Hauora Māori providers, Pacific providers, pharmacists and General Practices to play our part in the health system’s efforts to improve immunisation rates and protect whānau against vaccine preventable diseases.
It is so heartening to hear whānau who may have been hesitant about vaccination or found access challenging saying they felt comfortable coming to Plunket, they trusted us and that the service was convenient and easy for them.
In line with our approach to support the health system to deliver for whānau, we have also launched a pilot to train five of our nurses as prescribers. It is early days, but the goal is for our nurses to be able to provide prescriptions for minor ailments for tamariki who are otherwise well, again relieving some of the pressure on primary care.
The Registered Nurse Prescribing in Community Health service will be free for whānau enrolled with Plunket in the five pilot locations and integrated into our Well Child Tamariki Ora service.
All this mahi – and so much more – is being delivered against the backdrop of a challenging economic climate. If you like what you have read, I encourage you to Dunk it for Plunket this September. As a charity, this is our biggest fundraiser of the year and it means we can continue to deliver our free community services all around the motu. It’s as easy as having a cuppa with your friends, workmates and whānau.
I plan to take the dunking part of this much more literally – and from a great height... but more on this to come!
Ngā mihi nui, thank you so much for your support,
Fiona Kingsford