Bid to resolve row over ED specialist
Bid to resolve row over ED specialist
The senior doctors' union and the Southern District Health Board appear to be trying to resolve a dispute with a Dunedin emergency department specialist.
Eileen Goodwin
Heatly appointed to national advisory group
Heatly appointed to national advisory group
Southern District Health Board chief executive Carole Heatly has been appointed to the advisory group of a national patient safety campaign.
Discussion of suicide encouraged
Discussion of suicide encouraged
The silence around suicide is not working, and moves to open up the issue are to be encouraged, a Pacific Island suicide prevention workshop convener says.
Dependent pre-pay power customers face severance
Dependent pre-pay power customers face severance
Thirteen Dunedin Contact Energy customers on pre-paid power are medically dependent on the supply, and their power could disconnect if not topped up, the power company says.
SDHB may send financial planning back to committee
SDHB may send financial planning back to committee
The Southern District Health Board is considering moving annual financial planning back to a dedicated committee, as it is "struggling" in this area, chairman Joe Butterfield says.
Elective targets missed
Elective targets missed
The Southern District Health Board needs to provide timely surgery this month or it could lose incentive funding for elective surgery.
SLHS considers combined practice
SLHS considers combined practice
Dunedin-based South Link Health Services (SLHS) is considering building a GP practice serving up to 10,000 people on the Southland Hospital site in Invercargill.
More 'clinical instinct' suggested
More 'clinical instinct' suggested
Should doctors use more "clinical instinct" to diagnose patients to reduce the number of scans?
Whooping cough rise downplayed
Whooping cough rise downplayed
A five-fold rise in notified whooping cough cases this year is not statistically significant, Public Health South medical officer of health Dr Marion Poore told a Southern District Health Board committee yesterday.
Services restructured
Services restructured
Presbytarian Support Otago has restructured its Family Works service, resulting in one redundancy.
Stay safe by not driving
Stay safe by not driving
The safest car trip is the one never taken.
Otago patients offered MRI scans in Southland
Otago patients offered MRI scans in Southland
Otago patients are being offered routine MRI scans in Invercargill because waiting lists are too long at Dunedin Hospital, a report to a Southern District Health Board committee says.
Button batteries a growing hazard
Button batteries a growing hazard
Button-size batteries pose a growing risk to children and the elderly which can be countered by a multi-country effort, government regulators at a world safety conference in Wellington say.
ECT rate highest in New Zealand
ECT rate highest in New Zealand
The Southern District Health Board's rate of electroconvulsive therapy, at more than double the national average, is the highest in New Zealand, the latest report of the director of mental health shows.
SDHB to host link
SDHB to host link
The Southern District Health Board will handle all communications for the burgeoning South Island Alliance, starting in November.
Clashes over quad bike measures
Clashes over quad bike measures
Quad bike manufacturers have adopted the tactics of the tobacco industry to avoid regulations, a University of Sydney academic will tell next week's Safety 2012 World Conference in Wellington.
Suicide coverage lift triggers warning
Suicide coverage lift triggers warning
The Chief Coroner and the media have set New Zealand firmly on a path that deviates from international best practice in loosening the restrictions around reporting suicide, a New Zealand Medical Journal editorial co-written by a University of Otago academic says.
Too soon for verdict on clinic: doctor
Too soon for verdict on clinic: doctor
It is too soon to say whether an innovative "joint clinic" for osteoarthritis patients is alleviating GPs' frustrations over lack of access to Dunedin orthopaedic services, Dr Haxby Abbott says.
Therapy needed when reflex failed
Therapy needed when reflex failed
Swallowing is something we take for granted.However, Dunedin woman Margaret Fisher not only had to learn to swallow again after an extremely rare type of stroke, she needs to be conscious of each and every one.
Synthetic cannabis 'a huge problem'
Synthetic cannabis 'a huge problem'
Rising use of synthetic cannabis is having a "significant impact" in mental-health wards and is partly to blame for increasing assaults on staff, Otago mental-health nursing director Heather Casey says.