Donations lifeline for PlunketLine

Plunket says its child health phone line will remain in service, despite the Government pulling the plug on funding this year.

Plunket president Kaye Crowther said PlunketLine was too highly valued by families to let go, and would continue to be funded by community and corporate donors.

In July the Government dumped PlunketLine for a new health advice contractor, McKesson Healthline.

The Ministry of Health said McKesson had a proven call answering rate of 90 per cent - higher than the PlunketLine rate. But in the first five weeks of service, nearly a quarter of calls to the McKesson line went unanswered.

Ministry spokesman Pat Tuohy said the number of unanswered calls in August was due to increased demand during winter.

The unanswered call rate had fallen to 13.8 per cent, according to the latest figures.

Ms Crowther said PlunketLine was as busy as ever.

"Overwhelming support, combined with the large volumes of people continuing to ring PlunketLine for help and advice every day, provided Plunket with the confidence to keep this important service running," she said.

Staff had been answering about 1200 child health calls a week since the contract ended in July, a similar call rate to previous years.

Barnados New Zealand chief executive Murray Edridge said the organisation was delighted PlunketLine would continue.

- NZPA