Specialist shortages 'wasteful'
Specialist shortages 'wasteful'
Sending southern cardiac MRI patients to private hospitals is ''financially wasteful'' and shows the need to address the country's specialist shortage, the senior doctors' union says.
Eileen Goodwin
Crews called out to petrol station fire
Crews called out to petrol station fire
A fire in the retail area of the Caltex petrol station on Taieri Rd is not being treated as suspicious, a New Zealand Fire Service spokesman says.
Drunken incidents mar Hyde St party
Drunken incidents mar Hyde St party
A St John paramedic was covered in shattered glass fragments at the Hyde St party yesterday, in what police say was a ''particularly distressing'' incident.
Calm, colourful start to street party
Calm, colourful start to street party
Organisers are pleased with the early hours of the street party on Hyde St today.
SDHB 'in extreme difficulties'
SDHB 'in extreme difficulties'
The Southern District Health Board is facing ''extreme financial difficulties'', meaning tough decisions have to be taken, departing chairman Joe Butterfield says.
Launch for Dunedin branch of Science Communicators group
Launch for Dunedin branch of Science Communicators group
A Dunedin branch of the Science Communicators Association is being launched tomorrow with an event at the Otago Museum about alcohol and the brain. Health reporter Eileen Goodwin spoke to organisers.
Date for new hospital 'slipping'
Date for new hospital 'slipping'
The Government's time frame for a new clinical services building at Dunedin Hospital appears to have slipped.
Health board's operational philosophy questioned
Health board's operational philosophy questioned
The Southern District Health Board may be ''blindly following'' now-discarded overseas trends of centralising specialist services, the Dunedin School of Medicine (DSM) has warned.
New SDHB chairman, Butterfield to go
New SDHB chairman, Butterfield to go
Southern District Health Board chairman Joe Butterfield is to be replaced in the role.
$50m bill looms for Dunedin Hospital
$50m bill looms for Dunedin Hospital
Up to $50 million will be needed to keep the clinical services building at Dunedin Hospital going for another 10 years, according to an assessment by the Beca consultancy group.
Council sets up whistleblower committee
Council sets up whistleblower committee
An internal audit policy adopted by the Dunedin City Council shifts responsibility to governance level, an ''important change'', councillor Richard Thomson told a council meeting yesterday.
Cardiac MRIs may be done privately
Cardiac MRIs may be done privately
The Southern District Health Board is considering sending cardiac MRI test patients to private hospitals, as it is about to lose the second of two specially trained cardiologists.
Upgrade ensures continued service
Upgrade ensures continued service
Dunedin Hospital is the country's sole public provider of a specialist radiation therapy and an upgrade means the service will be secured here.
Euthanasia `about ending suffering'
Euthanasia `about ending suffering'
Misconceptions abound about the practice of euthanasia in the Netherlands, retired Dutch doctor and euthanasia campaigner Dr Rob Jonquiere says.
Frozen meals for South slammed
Frozen meals for South slammed
A proposal to truck frozen meals on wheels from Auckland to Dunedin and Invercargill has sparked outrage in the South.
Crash driver appears
Crash driver appears
The Chinese tourist accused of causing the death of an Oamaru 5-year-old is unlikely to dispute the cause of the crash, his lawyer told the Dunedin District Court yesterday.
Frozen meals - sent from Auckland
Frozen meals - sent from Auckland
Meals on wheels will be made in Auckland and trucked to Dunedin and Invercargill under a proposal to outsource hospital food services, the Compass Group confirmed yesterday.
Exploring symptoms advised
Exploring symptoms advised
New research into a free Dunedin GP clinic shows care tends to involve ''administrative'' tasks more than exploring symptoms because patients tend to be conditioned to ill health.
Mums happy formula safe for babies
Mums happy formula safe for babies
Everyone has a ''small amount'' of fear over the threat to infant formula, but it is outweighed by trust the authorities have the situation under control, Dunedin mother Brydie Archbold says.
DX Mail defends its city delivery service
DX Mail defends its city delivery service
DX Mail has a direct delivery service operating in Dunedin, Invercargill, and Gore, but elsewhere in the South uses New Zealand Post's network, including to service its Southern District Health...