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What is the role of PHOs in improving the performance of primary care?

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora contracts for primary care services with 30 Primary Healthcare Organisations (PHOs) throughout New Zealand.

The key functions of PHOs include:

  • Assessing local population health needs
  • Planning primary healthcare services
  • Developing population health programmes
  • Integrating services across healthcare organisations including connecting primary care with hospitals and specialists and collaborating with other primary and community services to enhance healthcare delivery to their population
  • Supporting general practices in terms of infrastructure and providing back-office support
  • Clinical governance and quality improvement leadership
  • Workforce capacity planning and training

PHOs subcontract with general practices to deliver primary care services to their enrolled population. 

Some PHOs directly deliver primary care services to their enrolled populations. The PHO services agreement (the contract between Health NZ and PHOs) includes a range of performance measures to support the delivery of high-quality primary care services and continuous improvement against key health indicators and outcomes.

What primary care measures does this first update cover?

This first update includes:

  • Immunisation (8 months and 24 months)
  • Smoking Cessation

What other primary care indicators will be added in future updates?

In future updates we plan to include performance against a wider range of measures including:

  • Cardiovascular Risk Assessment (CVRA)
  • Service use rates
  • GP practice enrolment availability
  • Clinical FTE per thousand people
  • Patient experience indicators
  • Newborn enrolment rates

Primary Care indicators

Immunisation - 8 months and 24 months

Immunisation - 8 months and 24 months

Why is immunisation at 8 months and 24 months important to report on? 

Babies and children need immunisation to provide ongoing protection from many life-threatening diseases. Over a million people around the world die every year from diseases that can be prevented by immunisation. Most of these diseases have become rare in New Zealand thanks to immunisation programmes. 

What is the source of this immunisation data?

Health NZ gathers this data from the National Enrolment Service (NES) and Aotearoa Immunisation Register (AIR).

Immunisation data - 2024/25 Q1

The tables below show:

  • Immunisation Milestone Coverage for Children 8 months and 24 months
    This prompts providers to increase the immunisation coverage of children

8 months

Rank PHO Name Lead District Fully Immunised Declined Not Fully Immunised Eligible
1 Christchurch PHO Limited Canterbury 93.4% 3.3% 3.3% 151
2 Cosine Primary Care Network Trust Capital and Coast 89.5% 1.1% 9.5%  Masked 
3 Pegasus Health (Charitable) Limited Canterbury 89.3% 4.5% 6.2% 1,356
4 Comprehensive Care PHO - Northland Northland 88.3% 3.3% 8.3%  Masked 
5 Wellsouth Primary Health Network Southern 86.6% 5.7% 7.7% 789
6 Waitaha Primary Health Limited Canterbury 85.9% 6.3% 7.8% 128
7 East Health Trust Counties Manukau 85.6% 3.3% 11.1% 271
8 Kimi Hauora Wairau (Marlborough PHO Trust) Nelson Marlborough 85.6% 6.7% 7.7% 104
9 Tu Ora Compass Health Capital and Coast Capital and Coast 85.6% 3.6% 10.9% 644
10 Auckland PHO Limited Auckland 85.2% 2.7% 12.1% 257
11 Procare Health (PHO) Limited Auckland 85.1% 2.8% 12.0% 1,932
12 South Canterbury Primary and Community South Canterbury 84.7% 5.6% 9.7% 124
13 Tu Ora Compass Health Wairarapa Wairarapa 83.5% 3.7% 12.8% 109
14 Nelson Bays Primary Health Trust Nelson Marlborough 83.0% 5.0% 11.9% 218
15 The Cause Collective Counties Manukau 81.3% 2.8% 15.9% 504
16 Comprehensive Care PHO Waitemata 80.7% 4.2% 15.0% 379
17 Health Hawke's Bay Limited Hawkes Bay 80.3% 4.1% 15.6% 442
18 National Hauora Coalition - Counties Manukau Counties Manukau 79.9% 3.2% 16.9% 845
19 National Hauora Coalition - Northland Northland 79.4% 7.9% 12.7% 63
20 Pinnacle Midlands Health Network - Waikato Waikato 78.4% 6.1% 15.5% 774
21 Te Awakairangi Health Network Hutt Valley 77.9% 3.5% 18.6% 344
22 THINK Hauora MidCentral 77.4% 6.6% 16.0% 455
23 Pinnacle Midlands Health Network - Lakes Lakes 76.7% 7.5% 15.8% 120
24 Western Bay of Plenty PHO Limited Bay of Plenty 76.0% 9.2% 14.8% 575
25 Total Healthcare Charitable Trust Counties Manukau 75.0% 3.7% 21.4% 1,038
26 Pinnacle Midlands Health Network - Taranaki Taranaki 72.5% 8.7% 18.9% 334
27 Whanganui Regional Health Network Whanganui 69.6% 13.8% 16.7% 138
28 National Hauora Coalition - Waikato Waikato 69.2% 10.3% 20.5% 312
29 Taranaki DHB PHO Taranaki 69.2% 7.7% 23.1%  Masked 
30 Ora Toa PHO Limited Capital and Coast 68.9% 5.4% 25.7% 74
31 Pinnacle Midlands Health Network - Tairawhiti Tairawhiti 68.8% 9.6% 21.6% 125
32 Te Kaupapa Mahitahi Hauora Northland 67.9% 15.5% 16.6% 368
33 Hauraki PHO Waikato 66.7% 4.0% 29.3% 321
34 West Coast Health West Coast 65.7% 17.1% 17.1% 70
35 Rotorua Area Primary Health Services Limited Lakes 65.5% 9.1% 25.5% 220
36 Eastern Bay Primary Health Alliance Bay of Plenty 59.1% 12.9% 28.0% 132
37 Nga Mataapuna Oranga Limited Bay of Plenty 57.9% 7.9% 34.2%  Masked 
38 Ngati Porou Hauora Charitable Trust Tairawhiti 25.8% 3.2% 71.0%  Masked 
All 80.2% 5.3% 14.6% 13,953

24 months

Rank PHO Name Lead District Fully Immunised Declined Not Fully Immunised Eligible
1 Christchurch PHO Limited Canterbury 92.7% 3.3% 4.0% 150
2 Taranaki DHB PHO Taranaki 88.9% 0.0% 11.1%  Masked 
3 Cosine Primary Care Network Trust Capital and Coast 88.2% 2.2% 9.6%  Masked 
4 Comprehensive Care PHO - Northland Northland 88.0% 8.0% 4.0%  Masked 
5 East Health Trust Counties Manukau 86.9% 4.8% 8.3% 314
6 Pegasus Health (Charitable) Limited Canterbury 86.5% 5.8% 7.7% 1,459
7 Auckland PHO Limited Auckland 86.3% 0.0% 13.7% 233
8 Tu Ora Compass Health Capital and Coast Capital and Coast 86.2% 3.6% 10.2% 703
9 Wellsouth Primary Health Network Southern 85.1% 5.7% 9.0% 854
10 Tu Ora Compass Health Wairarapa Wairarapa 83.8% 10.8% 5.4% 130
11 Waitaha Primary Health Limited Canterbury 83.7% 8.1% 8.1% 135
12 Procare Health (PHO) Limited Auckland 82.2% 4.7% 13.2% 2,038
13 South Canterbury Primary and Community South Canterbury 80.0% 8.0% 12.0% 150
14 Comprehensive Care PHO Waitemata 80.0% 4.5% 15.5% 425
15 Nelson Bays Primary Health Trust Nelson Marlborough 79.8% 13.6% 6.6% 242
16 Health Hawke's Bay Limited Hawkes Bay 79.7% 7.0% 13.3% 473
17 National Hauora Coalition - Northland Northland 79.3% 6.1% 14.6% 82
18 Kimi Hauora Wairau (Marlborough PHO Trust) Nelson Marlborough 78.8% 8.5% 12.7% 118
19 THINK Hauora MidCentral 78.3% 6.6% 15.1% 498
20 West Coast Health West Coast 76.8% 9.8% 13.4% 82
21 Te Awakairangi Health Network Hutt Valley 76.0% 4.5% 19.5% 333
22 National Hauora Coalition - Counties Manukau Counties Manukau 75.9% 4.4% 19.7% 888
23 Western Bay of Plenty PHO Limited Bay of Plenty 75.1% 10.3% 14.6% 602
24 Pinnacle Midlands Health Network - Waikato Waikato 74.6% 7.0% 18.4% 773
25 Pinnacle Midlands Health Network - Lakes Lakes 74.1% 11.7% 14.2% 162
26 Pinnacle Midlands Health Network - Taranaki Taranaki 74.0% 11.0% 15.1% 392
27 Pinnacle Midlands Health Network - Tairawhiti Tairawhiti 71.5% 6.9% 21.5% 130
28 The Cause Collective Counties Manukau 69.9% 6.3% 23.8% 412
29 Whanganui Regional Health Network Whanganui 69.5% 9.8% 20.7% 164
30 Total Healthcare Charitable Trust Counties Manukau 68.3% 3.0% 28.7% 931
31 National Hauora Coalition - Waikato Waikato 65.6% 10.9% 23.5% 311
32 Hauraki PHO Waikato 62.1% 4.1% 33.8% 293
33 Rotorua Area Primary Health Services Limited Lakes 60.3% 7.9% 31.7% 252
34 Ora Toa PHO Limited Capital and Coast 59.7% 16.4% 23.9% 67
35 Te Kaupapa Mahitahi Hauora Northland 58.8% 16.8% 24.5% 417
36 Eastern Bay Primary Health Alliance Bay of Plenty 56.5% 20.0% 23.5% 115
37 Nga Mataapuna Oranga Limited Bay of Plenty 51.7% 19.0% 29.3% 58
38 Ngati Porou Hauora Charitable Trust Tairawhiti 31.3% 20.8% 47.9% 48
All 77.6% 6.6% 15.8% 14,654

Primary Care Indicators - Immunisation FY24 Q1 (including ethnicity view) (XLSX 116KB)

Smoking Cessation

Smoking Cessation

Why is smoking cessation important?

Quitting is the very best thing that people who smoke can do for their health, and for the health of their families (especially their children), whānau and friends.

What is the source of this data?

Primary Health organisations provide Health NZ with this data

Smoking Cessation data – 2024/25 Q1

The table below shows:

  • Smoking cessation or referral in the last 15 months
    This prompts providers to provide evidence-based cessation support or referrals to support those who wish to stop smoking
  • The numerator is the number of current smokers who have been given or referred to cessation support services in the last 15 months.
  • The denominator is the eligible enrolled population who have a most recent smoking status as current smoker.
Rank PHO Name Lead District Numerator Denominator Percent
1 Pinnacle Midlands Health Network - Taranaki Taranaki 7,040 10,147 69.4%
2 Pinnacle Midlands Health Network - Lakes Lakes 2,617 3,779 69.3%
3 Pinnacle Midlands Health Network - Waikato Waikato 12,355 18,772 65.8%
4 Pinnacle Midlands Health Network - Tairawhiti Tairawhiti 2,381 4,337 54.9%
5 Waitaha Primary Health Limited Canterbury 2,163 4,613 46.9%
6 Pegasus Health (Charitable) Limited Canterbury 10,993 32,312 34.0%
7 Procare Health (PHO) Limited Auckland 15,030 44,381 33.9%
8 South Canterbury Primary and Community South Canterbury 1,893 5,868 32.3%
9 The Cause Collective Counties Manukau 3,700 11,794 31.4%
10 National Hauora Coalition - Counties Manukau Counties Manukau 5,130 16,428 31.2%
11 Auckland PHO Limited Auckland 1,632 5,229 31.2%
12 East Health Trust Counties Manukau 1,854 6,013 30.8%
13 Te Kaupapa Mahitahi Hauora Northland 4,984 16,978 29.4%
14 National Hauora Coalition - Waikato Waikato 2,550 9,069 28.1%
15 Ngati Porou Hauora Charitable Trust Tairawhiti 602 2,196 27.4%
16 Eastern Bay Primary Health Alliance Bay of Plenty 1,156 4,278 27.0%
17 Nelson Bays Primary Health Trust Nelson Marlborough 2,160 8,057 26.8%
18 Christchurch PHO Limited Canterbury 943 3,543 26.6%
19 Cosine Primary Care Network Trust Capital and Coast 421 1,762 23.9%
20 National Hauora Coalition - Northland Northland Masked Masked 21.3%
21 Hauraki PHO Waikato 2,516 12,440 20.2%
22 Whanganui Regional Health Network Whanganui 1,156 5,825 19.8%
23 Rotorua Area Primary Health Services Limited Lakes 1,748 8,917 19.6%
24 Te Awakairangi Health Network Hutt Valley 2,214 11,357 19.5%
25 West Coast Health West Coast 813 4,412 18.4%
26 Wellsouth Primary Health Network Southern 5,208 28,827 18.1%
27 Comprehensive Care PHO Waitemata 1,490 8,649 17.2%
28 THINK Hauora MidCentral 1,491 9,945 15.0%
29 Total Healthcare Charitable Trust Counties Manukau 4,071 28,242 14.4%
30 Comprehensive Care PHO - Northland Northland 240 1,846 13.0%
31 Health Hawke's Bay Limited Hawkes Bay 2,539 19,573 13.0%
32 Tu Ora Compass Health Capital and Coast Capital and Coast 2,491 19,476 12.8%
33 Ora Toa PHO Limited Capital and Coast 345 2,700 12.8%
34 Western Bay of Plenty PHO Limited Bay of Plenty 1,596 13,805 11.6%
35 Kimi Hauora Wairau (Marlborough PHO Trust) Nelson Marlborough 398 3,932 10.1%
36 Tu Ora Compass Health Wairarapa Wairarapa 448 4,824 9.3%
37 Nga Mataapuna Oranga Limited Bay of Plenty 289 3,135 9.2%
All 108,657 397,461 27.3%

Primary Care Indicators - Smoking Cessation FY24 Q1 (including ethnicity view) (XLSX 147KB)