3. Dr DON BRASH (Leader of the Opposition) Link to this
to the Prime Minister
Does she stand by her statement “we will continue to fund a Well Child service 24 hours a day”?
Does the Prime Minister believe that people calling Healthline will be speaking to a qualified Well Child nurse from 1 July; if so, why?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
Because I know that the people to run the service from 1 July already have six Well Child - qualified nurses and a paediatric nurse on staff, and will have a further five Well Child nurses signed up to commence on 1 July.
Was it a service specification in the recent tender for the Well Child telephone advice service that Well Child nurses handle all calls, and that those Well Child nurses have “extensive and recent clinical experience in community Well Child nursing”; if so, why?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
I do not have the micro-details of the contract in front of me, but certainly I am advised that, as I said, they intend to have 11 properly qualified people doing the service from 1 July.
Sue KedgleyWill the Government admit that it made a mistake in cutting funding to PlunketLine and giving the contract to a subsidiary of a large multinational corporation, many of whose nurses have not had specific training in parenting issues, and will it therefore reinstate the service; if not, why not?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
The answer to the first part of the question is no. In response to the second part of the question, the Ministry of Health continues to be in discussion with Plunket about its contract going forward, and that of course also includes how best to integrate PlunketLine into the contract.
Can the Prime Minister confirm that in fact the Ministry of Health and McKesson New Zealand Ltd are discussing not having Well Child - qualified nurses manning the phones; and how does she reconcile that with her answers to my previous two questions?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
No, I cannot confirm that, because the information I have in front of me is that there are already six Well Child - qualified nurses and a paediatric nurse on staff, and another five nurses begin from 1 July. That, of course, is a component of the overall total of 40 full-time tele-nurses.
When the Prime Minister said: “We have a Prime Minister who claims to be passionate about making life better for mothers and families but stands by while the Plunket telephone line collapses.”, did she have herself in mind; and why is she now standing by while PlunketLine collapses?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
I had in mind a former Prime Minister who refused to fund a 24-hour Well Child health line—[ Interruption]
Madam SPEAKERWould the Prime Minister please be seated. I am receiving increasing numbers of complaints from the public that they simply cannot hear answers to the question. I ask the Prime Minister to please repeat her answer to the question.
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
I had in mind a former Prime Minister who refused point-blank to fund a 24-hour Well Child health service. I am the Prime Minister who has ensured that a 24-hour Well Child health service is being funded.
Is she the same Helen Clark who said: “We will back to the hilt our Plunket.”, and how can preventing thousands of New Zealand mothers and their babies from getting advice from a Well Child nurse be seen as backing Plunket to the hilt?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK Link to this
The Government is presently in negotiation with Plunket about increasing the price of its contract. What about that does the Leader of the Opposition not understand?
I seek leave to table a memo from McKesson New Zealand to the Ministry of Health making it clear that it will not have Well Child - trained nurses available from 1 July.