Eileen Goodwin

The Southern District Health Board is on track to save $3.4 million on housework and domestic assistance for the elderly this year.

The number of rural birthing facilities in Otago and Southland may need to be reduced because of a lack of births.

A registered nurse who showed "poor clinical judgement" in the care of a resident with pressure wounds had resigned and no longer worked at Ross Home and Hospital, Presbyterian Support Otago chief executive Gillian Bremner said.

A $4 million blow-out in spending on rest-home subsidies will be revealed today as the Southern District Health Board looks for ways to keep more elderly people in their homes.

A leading United States health commentator told delegates at a health symposium in Dunedin yesterday his country's health reforms were confusing and could be reversed by future governments.

As Otago's mental-health sector braces for spending cuts, a visiting Italian psychiatrist says the secret of a successful mental-health service is integrating physical and mental health and allowing people access to 24-hour help centres.

For 105 years it was known as boat number 6338.

Efforts which reduced waiting times for alcohol and drug services have been recognised with a quality improvement award from the Southern District Health Board.

A campaign promoting waterproof nappies for small children is less relevant for Dunedin than other centres because parents are already conscientious about putting their wee ones in waterproof pants when necessary, Dunedin City Council aqueous services manager Steve Prescott said.

A Dunedin man who had a sizeable chunk of bone removed from his throat says Dunedin Hospital staff initially sent him on his way, saying they were not sure why he was in discomfort.

The men who perished at Pike River captured the world's imagination, as well as its sympathy and sorrow, because they embodied the frightening paradox of encountering "death in the midst of life", the Bishop of Dunedin, the Rt Rev Dr Kelvin Wright, told a service to remember the miners at St Paul's Cathedral in Dunedin yesterday.

A Dunedin man says he paid for private medical attention to diagnose bowel cancer, soon after waiting more than five hours at Dunedin Hospital's emergency department in severe discomfort without receiving an examination.