News and Media

Ex-smoker Joseph Tavita Ogotau Wright and Quitline Service Delivery Manager Jordan Taiaroa weigh in on how the new QuitStrong campaign is looking to tackle the problem head on.

He's taken the hint and is now becoming one of the success stories for Quitline, the Government-backed quit-smoking programme run by Homecare Medical, particularly in its focus of improving Māori health by bringing down disproportionately higher smoker rates.

The Healthline team…has a direct information artery to the Ministry of Health so they can quickly adapt its public health messages and the latest epidemic developments for delivery to potentially anxious callers.

Calls for help for anxiety and depression and alcohol and drug relapse increased during the coronavirus lockdown, new figures show. Calls to lines run by the National Telehealth Service — including 1737, Depression Helpline and Alcohol Drug Helpline — increased by nearly a third in the first week of lockdown compared with two weeks earlier (March 12-18).

The team at NZNO Kai Tiaki interviewed Sarah Tan, Andrew Slater and nurse Marley Mueller. The article featured in May’s edition, and focused on a day in the life of a Healthline nurse working throughout COVID-19.

TVNZ1 Breakfast on International Nurses day, Breakfast interviewed Sarah Tan (Head of COVID-19 Service Unit Service Delivery Manager – Emergency Triage) and nurse Julianne Wilson about their experience working throughout COVID and what it is like to be a nurse at Healthline.

A new phone line has been set up specifically for primary and community health clinicians seeking COVID-19 advice. The number, 0800 177 622, is now operational and was announced in a letter sent out yesterday by the Ministry of Health’s acting deputy director-general of Health System Improvement and Innovation Clare Perry.

Andrew Slater never expected his call centre staff would be delivering babies over the phone on a regular basis. Mr Slater certainly didn’t foresee he would be running around Auckland dairies on the hunt for Ajax Spray n’ Wipe and hand sanitiser for the office. Blueprints for the future have arisen from this innovative thinking. The health system over the last month has done some extraordinary things

Calls and texts to the government's free national mental health helpline have risen sharply since the start of alert level 4. The number of calls to 'Need To Talk 1737' is up by 40 percent within the last five days, as people seek counselling over issues such as financial anxiety or worries about children.

Mental health helplines and the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) are receiving an unprecedented number of calls as people struggle emotionally during New Zealand's COVID-19 lockdown.

Sheryl Fife is a close confidant to many, but few have ever seen her face. The self-confessed 'gypsy' is the real-life characterisation of an old adage that exists in the medical fraternity - nursing isn't a job. It's a calling. And she's been answering the call on and off for more than a decade.

Demand for Healthline remains high even three weeks into the coronavirus lockdown, with call volumes over Easter seven times higher than the same period last year.

Talk of bathtub hand sanitiser and a grim worldwide trend have led to warnings: Alcohol won't cure Covid-19 and the wrong type can kill.

Healthline staff have given help to 170,000 people of Aotearoa New Zealand since the Covid-19 outbreak hit the country in March.

Over three days this week Heathline fielded more calls than it did for the entire month of March last year.

News that a man with coronavirus attended a Tool concert in Auckland has had a 'huge impact' on calls to Healthline.

Like most articles about mental health, this story has a list of helpline numbers at the end. But who actually picks up when you make that call or text? Mental health and addiction counsellors at the National Telehealth Service handle 15000 phone or text sessions a month. Adam Dudding spent a day with the MH&A team to get an inside look into what happens when you call a helpline.

Happy birthday PlunketLine! From the Healthline team we’d like to congratulate you on 25 years of amazing service for children and their whānau around New Zealand. In the 3 ½ years we’ve collaborated with you, 90,948 parents and whānau have received health advice from your nurses – using the national telehealth service clinical and technology platform. It’s been a pleasure working with you and we look forward celebrating many more birthdays to come.

Media have played a significant role in keeping the public informed about events around the Christchurch terrorist events and the aftermath of those events. We have worked with the Ministry of Health, the Canterbury District Health Board and the Mental Health Foundation on guidelines for media, to get their assistance to help reduce the harmful impact of the events on the health of the nation. It was important to note in the guidelines that we are aware that journalists covering the terror attacks are under enormous pressure and are having to hear and see things that are extremely distressing, their wellbeing is important too.

To coincide with the first anniversary of the launch of the 1737 service, Andrew was interviewed by the Listener magazine, which was published Friday July 13th. In the extensive article, Andrew reflects on how important 1737 is, the types of calls we've received and what we've learnt from a year of running the service. Andrew also spoke about the number of young people, aged 13-24 who have been using the service

New Zealand's new sexual harm helpline, Safe to talk He pai ki te kōrero is giving people the chance to seek free, anonymous and confidential support from one central place, says Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni. The Minister today officially launched Safe to talk He pai ki te kōrero which provides nationwide 24/7 access to free confidential information and support to people affected by sexual harm in any way.

The newly launched 1737 helpline which helps anyone struggling with mental health and addictions, has been contacted more than 5,600 times and the largest demographic reaching out, is young people. Eighteen per cent of those seeking help are aged 13 to 19 years old and 19 per cent are 20 to 24. Psychiatrist David Codyre says "bullying is such a huge driver of depressions for young people".

The Ministry is leading the development and implementation of a new national sexual violence helpline accessible via phone and internet, called Safe to talk. Safe to talk will be: available nationwide, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Accessible by a number of modes including phone, online chat, email and text/SMS. Free and allows people to access information, crisis support and referral to local service providers.

The free screening programme for men and women aged 60 to 74 is being rolled out progressively throughout New Zealand. The roll-out started with Hutt Valley and Wairarapa District Health Boards in July.

"The National Telehealth Service operates a number of significant health information services and this week hit a million contacts in just under 20 months, with 1,002,952 contacts this morning," says Dr Coleman. "This includes over 600,000 contacts to Healthline, 141,000 to mental health and addiction services, 150,000 to Quitline and 43,000 for poisons advice."

"From tomorrow nationwide education, prevention and awareness work will be run through the Office for Seniors freeing up frontline providers to actively help older people facing different abuse situations," Ms Barry says. "With translation services available to the free 24/7helpline, and providers selected to ensure services are culturally responsive, the new service will be able to serve different ethnic groups, including Māori, Pasifika, Indian, Chinese and Korean communities."

Two initiatives, '1737, need to talk?'' and Early Mental Health Response (EMHR) were launched in Auckland on Thursday, to provide a "new front door"e; to mental health support and intervention. The services are a joint venture between the police, ambulance, Ministry of Health and Homecare Medical's National Telehealth Service - centralising mental health support through one 4-digit number, 1737

Employer Advice Line, a free phone-based service offering advice to employers about how to support new or existing disabled employees recently launched. Callers get information and advice specific to their situation, including local support services and organisations.

Homecare Medical (formerly HML) will soon be sending Healthline consultation summaries to all GPs, where the service user has given us consent to do so. The summaries are to let you know we took a call from your patient, the history taken and what we advised. GPs will receive the summaries via HealthLink into their PMS system and, where possible, the summaries will have NHIs to allow easy filing. Here's a sample of what a consultation summary will look like.

The Earthquake Support Line has been extended nationally, and it has reported a number of calls from the Wellington region. While calls to the national telehealth service have stabilised, the Earthquake Support Line is seeing increased volumes. As of this morning, the Earthquake Support Line (0800 777 846) and national telehealth service have answered 14,365 calls since the earthquake.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says the national telehealth service has helped around 425,000 New Zealanders since its launch one year ago. "The integration of telehealth services on one platform delivered by one provider means that people of Aotearoa New Zealand who makes contact - no matter what phoneline or channel they use - receive the appropriate help they need," says Dr Coleman.

Medical emergencies don't keep normal office hours and telehealth is increasingly being employed to cater for the demand for 24/7 triage and advice. Last year, the country's various health helplines were merged after a government tender won by Homecare Medical. Cliff Taylor visits the company's Auckland HQ to see how the service is doing, six months after going live. Published with permission of New Zealand Doctor. Read the article here.