ProCare, Ministry of Health and RNZCGP Thursday 18 June 2009, 1:31PM
Media release from ProCare, Ministry of Health and
RNZCGP (18 June)
A national GP support line for all flu pandemic queries has been
set up to help GPs better manage the rise in swine flu cases.
The helpline for GPs has been established jointly by the Ministry
of Health, the Royal
New Zealand College of General Practitioners and ProCare Health to
provide GPs
with dedicated support for queries and updates on the new influenza
A (H1N1)
"swine flu".
This new phone line - 0800 111 515 - will be available to all GPs,
beginning tomorrow for GPs in and
north of Auckland and early next week for GPs in the rest of the
country. The
helpline will be staffed by College GPs from around NZ and ProCare,
an Auckland
primary health organisation, through the ProCare GP call
centre.
Members of the public and anyone else concerned about the influenza
should call
Healthline on 0800 611 116, their local DHB's public health unit or
their own GP.
Minister of Health, Tony Ryall, said he was very pleased that
front-line health staff
would now have direct access to up-to-date expert advice.
"Once the focus shifts to managing more cases of swine flu in the
community the
workload for primary care is set to increase for a sustained period
of time," Tony
Ryall said.
In addition to the phone line, GP-dedicated information and updates
on swine flu
pandemic will be available online at www.moh.govt.nz,
www.rnzcgp.org.nz and
www.procare.co.nz. An email address has also been set up to handle
non-urgent
swine flu enquiries.