WONCA New Zealand 2020 conference postponed

It is with regret that the Board of The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners has today announced the postponement of WONCA NZ 2020 based on the uncertainty around COVID-19 (Coronavirus).

The decision has not been made lightly, given the incredible amount of work that has gone into the organisation of what was shaping up to be an outstanding conference. However, the College needs to act wisely and ensure our GPs and other primary care professionals, who are the key to medical care in the community, remain available where they’re needed most.

We couldn’t responsibly have so many New Zealand GPs, practice nurses, and practice managers out of circulation in late April, even for a short time, considering the evolving situation with COVID-19.

Unfortunately, the conference was going to coincide with heightened demands on GPs and their teams just as the country would be entering the winter flu season. This would have meant placing undue pressure on all our attendees.

The College Board decided to make this decision as early as possible to maximise the opportunity for delegates to alter their travel and accommodation arrangements.

Over the coming days the College team will be exploring all possible options for rescheduling WONCA NZ 2020 for later in the year. We will provide you with an update on this possibility by Friday, 13 March at latest.

We will be updating the WONCA NZ 2020 conference website: www.woncanz2020.com/wonca20 regularly.

I wish to personally acknowledge the enormous work and success of the very committed team who have been planning for this event. Of course, like me, you will be disappointed not to have the conference run in April as planned. Postponement, given the unusual times we are in, is the right thing to do.

Regards,

Dr Samantha Murton
President
The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners