Common questions about Healthline
Healthline is a free telephone health advice service for all the family.
What is Healthline?
Healthline is a free telephone health advice service for all the family.
- Healthline’s registered nurses ask you questions about the symptoms, condition or illness you’re ringing about. From your answers, they’ll recommend the best thing to do.
- They can also tell you where to find your nearest GP after-hours service, hospital emergency department, pharmacy, or out-of-hours dental surgery.
- Healthline can also provide general health information on a wide range of topics.
What happens when I call Healthline?
You‘ll speak to a friendly, registered nurse who will ask you questions about the condition or illness you’re ringing about.
From your answers, they‘ll tell you the best thing to do.
- That might be to see a doctor or go to hospital straight away.
- If it’s less serious, they can tell you how to take care of yourself – or the person you’re ringing about – at home.
How can the nurse tell what’s wrong over the phone?
The nurse will use a state-of-the art electronic system to guide them as they ask you questions about what’s wrong.
The system uses up-to-date information about many different illnesses and the symptoms of those illnesses.
After working through the questions, the nurse won’t tell you what illness you might have – but will be able to tell the best thing to do, and how quickly to do it. (The nurse will also use their professional training and experience when they give you this advice.)
Who is Healthline for and how do I get in touch?
- Healthline is available to everyone in New Zealand who has access to a telephone.
- The phone number for Healthline is 0800 611 116.
- It’s free to call Healthline from a landline or cellphone.
- Healthline operates 24-hours a day, seven days a week. In other words – any time you need it!
How safe is Healthline?
Healthline is staffed by experienced, registered nurses who have worked in many different places – including in GPs’ surgeries and hospitals.
The nurses use their clinical experience, along with an electonic decision support system that has the latest clinical information on a large number of illnesses, to advise callers on the best thing they can do for their condition or illness.
The decision support system prompts the nurse without directing them. If at any stage professional training and experience tells the Healthline nurse to override the information in the computerised system, then they will do so. (Any such decision is fully documented by the nurse and reviewed the following day by team leaders.)
What do most people ring Healthline about?
The most common adult illness people ring about is stomach pain. The two most common child illnesses people ring about are fever and vomiting.
You can access Healthline information about these and other health topics on this website: YourHealth
What’s the difference between Healthline and Plunketline?
Plunketline
Ring Plunketline if you have questions about child health or parenting.
For example, you may have a question about crying, sleeping, your child’s growth, development, behaviour, immunisation, breastfeeding, nutrition, oral health, safety – or want to know more about the Well Child/Tamariki Ora programme.
- Plunketline: 0800 933 922
Healthline
Call Healthline if you need advice about a child of any age who is unwell or hurt, or has any symptoms of sickness. Healthline also provides a full range of telephone triage and health advice for children over five and adults.
- Healthline: 0800 611 116
If you ring the wrong telephone advice service, you’ll be transferred to the correct service.
Page last updated: 03 May 2012
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