NCSP Sector Update – February 2023 – Health New Zealand

Mana Wāhine event – Nelson Marlborough

A Mana Wāhine Day was held Saturday 10 December 2022 with Te Piki Oranga in collaboration with Cervical Screening Regional Services, Nelson Bays PHO, Te Kotahi o Te Tauihu Charitable Trust, Sealord and Countdown Stoke, which provided a great experience for each wahine and their whānau that came along to support.

Four cervical screen-takers provided 41 cervical screens and a further three bookings were made for later appointments. The day also provided wider hauora korero across bowel and breast screening, smoking cessation, dietary, counselling, vaccinations, Tamariki Ora, midwifery and social work.

Wāhine were gifted a Kai Christmas Hamper, a $40 voucher, and a free coffee at the coffee cart across the road after. Some feedback from wahine and whānau: Thanks for making it so easy; Kaimahi made you feel at ease. very friendly; Nga mihi, thank you for today and your services and advice; Awesome day this morning to smear my mea. I felt comfortable and it was a straightforward process. E mihi ana; Holistic care of whānau taken, very good mahi most impressed thanks; The advice given was helpful. Lovely kaimahi and wonderful services.

Plans for the first part of 2023 include providing another Mana Wāhine Day in Motueka and collaborating with the nurses at Nelson Tasman Pasifika Trust to support a similar event.

Ride 4 Talei

As shared in the December Sector Update, the Ride 4 Talei – Smear Your Mea has been in planning and training to take the mauri of Talei from Wellington (2019 Te Matatini Kapa Haka Festival) to Auckland for the 2023 National Te Matatini Kapa Haka Festival.

Seventeen cyclists, led by Te Ururoa Flavell, will cycle approximately 800 kilometres over seven days from Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington to Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland between 14-21 February. They are supported by a 19-strong kaitautoko crew, ensuring their safety, with physio and police escort, bike repairs, laundry and overall wellbeing throughout the ride.

The whole crew will be stopping in at many rohe along the route. You are welcome to come along and support us in any way. All visits and timeframes are being finalised as this goes to print, which the Ride for Talei comms team will share on the SYM FaceBook site in the coming weeks. Thank you to all the providers who have committed their time to lead coordinating their rohe.

There will be a dedicated cervical screen-taking campervan en route stopping in to offer screening, korero and awareness led by Nadine Riwai and Dr Kasey Tawhara.

The campervan will then be taken onto Eden Park where the Tamaki Makaurau crew led by ProCare with NCSP and HPV Study Waitemata, Auckland, National Hauora Coalition, Counties Manukau NCSP – will continue to offer free cervical screening, HPV immunisations, LARC bookings and supported by wider hauora presence with breast, bowel, diabetes and smoking cessation. More details can be found on the Smear Your Mea Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/smearyourmea

What’s happening in the NCSP

Webinar and Resources

We have created a new page on the NSU website with summaries of information from the Goodfellow Unit webinar held in September. The page can be found here and contains:

A PDF of Dr John McMenamin’s original presentation
A PDF of questions received from attendees, grouped into relevant sections, and answers provided by our clinical team
A PDF called Moving to HPV testing for primary cervical screening, which provides more detailed and expanded content than the original presentation, and which the sector can call on as a further resource.

About 1500 health professionals attended the webinar, where we addressed the twin themes of why it is important that people continue to screen between now and the transition to HPV primary screening in July 2023, and the choices that will be available to participants, including self-testing.

A special shout out to the Auckland Waitemata NCSP team for setting up the Goodfellow webinar. It has proven a very successful channel to inform the sector of our key messages.

Educational Video for Health Sector

Prior to Christmas we posted an online video for health sector professionals detailing the move to HPV primary screening.

Based on feedback received, we’re in the process of slightly revising some wording for greater clarity. An update will be provided to let you know when the video is available again.

This will be the first in a series of planned educational and learning tools to be made available in the run up to the transition to HPV testing in July 2023. Keep an eye out for our updates as more resources become available.

Unit Standard Update

Toitū te Waiora with Te Whatu Ora are undertaking a review of Unit Standard 29556, Undertake Cervical Screening. Accreditation of nurses to support cytology procedures as part of follow up and surveillance will continue to be an important part of the new clinical pathway.

Public consultation was undertaken from 16 December to 23 January. We will share the link to the standard when it is available.

Cervical screen-taker update

The NCSP and HPV Primary Screening Project team presented to a Cervical Screening Regional Coordination Stakeholders’ Hui (Canterbury and South Canterbury) in December. Questions and answers arising from that hui can be viewed here https://www.nsu.govt.nz/system/files/page/screensouth_stakeholder_hui_qas_dec_2022_1.pdf

Updated Clinical Practice Guidelines

The Updated NCSP Clinical Practice Guidelines are currently being finalised and edited before being published. On the guidelines.

NCSP Policies and Standards

Work is progressing on the NCSP Laboratory and Colposcopy Policies and Standards, with feedback from the Working Groups collated and reviewed. They will now be edited before being published.

New HPV Primary Screening Resources

The NCSP has contracted the design agency Big River Creative to develop the public-facing resources for the new HPV primary screening programme. Big River Creative is a 100% Māori-owned, Māori and Pacific-led creative agency. It specialises in cultural graphic design and infographics to create mana-enhancing and culturally-responsive resources with a Te Tiriti o Waitangi focus that will resonate with priority audiences.

Laboratory Update

Signing of agreements concluded in December for the process to procure national laboratory services. The Labs RFP announcement is available on the NSU website at https://www.nsu.govt.nz/news/ncsp-hpv-primary-screening-labs-rfp-update

Immunisation Update

The World Health Organization (WHO) published an updated position paper on Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines in 2022. WHO issues a series of regularly-updated position papers on vaccines and combinations of vaccines against diseases that have an international public health impact. These papers are concerned primarily with the use of vaccines in large-scale vaccination programmes.

The position paper can be found here(link is external).

HPV immunisation is primarily offered as part of the school-based immunisation programme in year 7 and 8. It is free for everyone aged 9 to 26 years, including non-residents under the age of 18 years.

Just before Christmas 2022, data was published on the Ministry of Health website showing HPV immunisation coverage to 30 September 2022 for the 2004-2008 birth cohort. It can be viewed here.

Immunisation leaflet available

An updated leaflet is available on HealthEd promoting HPV vaccinations. Entitled Immunise against HPV (human papillomavirus) – English version – HE2012 – HealthEd, it can be found here.

Answers to Your Questions

We are receiving regular feedback and questions to hpvscreen@health.govt.nz(link sends e-mail). More information is available on the website here: Frequently asked questions | National Screening Unit (nsu.govt.nz).

Answers to many clinical questions raised at the Goodfellow Unit webinar can be found in the link provided earlier in this newsletter.

Staying in Touch

If you have colleagues who would also like to receive this monthly update, they can join the distribution list by emailing us at hpvscreen@health.govt.nz(link sends e-mail)

We really appreciate your feedback and are here to answer any questions you may have.

NCSP Sector Update – February 2023

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