Our programme provides clinical education for primary health care clinicians on topics that are engaging, relevant and strategically important to the wider health system. Topics are independently researched and developed for the primary care workforce, supporting multidisciplinary teams to deliver better patient care.
The same group of clinicians meet in real time for 1.5 hours, 4 to 5 times per year, either physically in a meeting space or online via a Zoom meeting
Groups have 12-15 clinicians, including General Practitioners, Nurse Practitioners, Community Pharmacists and Practice Nurses
A trained Peer Group Leader supports the group to reflect on their practice with case studies and interactive discussions, informed by evidence and data
Some examples of recent topics include: ‘Early Cancer Diagnosis in Primary Care’, ‘Neurodiversity with a focus on ADHD’ and ‘Heart Failure’.
The unique peer environment supports clinicians to discuss challenging issues in a reflective way
Variability in clinical practice is explored, using data and discussion to reduce unhealthy variation
Equity issues are integrated through topics, aiming to improve health outcomes of all people and communities
Attendees come away with changes they can make in their clinical practice, improving patient care and supporting better use of resources
The approach reflects best practice for adult learning. It has supported clinicians in Canterbury for almost 30 years, expanding its reach across NZ and more recently into the UK
Developed in Christchurch in 1994 with the vision ‘to support best practice through optimal and ethical use of resources’. A key driver for the programme was supporting clinical quality improvements in the use of laboratory tests and pharmaceutical prescribing in primary care. These factors saved the health system money and improved patient outcomes.
Key to the success in changing behaviour, was developing a peer-led evidence-based education programme that allowed clinicians to discuss their practice in a trusted, small group environment. The programme is independently developed and not influenced by drug company sponsorship. These founding principles of the programme continue today.
Clinical Connect – Peer Education Programme is developed and run by the Pegasus Health, Clinical Quality and Education Team.
The team include experienced registered health professionals, who are skilled in literature searching, critical appraisal, and developing evidence informed educational content. Content is developed in-house working with relevant experts and data sets. Our team also has experts in administration, planning, leader training, group facilitation and management.
General Practitioner
“First small group meeting, I found it collegial and informative, good to be able to bring patient cases into a targeted discussion”
Registered Nurse
“As a new primary care practitioner this education session is extremely valuable”
Community Pharmacist
“What I like most about the programme is the collegial nature of it, it allows you to share ideas and experiences of challenging areas of work that we are involved in, and to discuss what we can do as a system to achieve a better outcome”
The programme meets professional development requirements for the following professional bodies:
Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP), Nursing Council of New Zealand (NCNZ) and the Pharmacy Council of New Zealand (PCNZ).
education@pegasus.health.nz
Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou ka ora ai te tangata | With your contribution and my contribution we will nourish the people
Clinical Connect Peer Education Programme is run by Pegasus Health (Charitable) Ltd
