Getting to grips with Bill harder than grasping rugby stats
Sometimes I wish I could care about the All Blacks.
Elspeth McLean
It is hard not to be sceptical of hopes social media will improve
It is hard not to be sceptical of hopes social media will improve
It's a pity my nearly 5-year-old grandson cannot be on Twitter.
Nay, it’s never OK to hit a horse, even if it’s done by a person you admired
Nay, it’s never OK to hit a horse, even if it’s done by a person you admired
Where's Mark Todd when you need him?
Doing your task with due process difficult
Doing your task with due process difficult
There is a long way to go yet, but I am convinced we could not do a worse job than our Parliament last week.
Food books for the body and mind
Food books for the body and mind
Food Isn’t Medicine is the book to wave under the nose of any annoying person proselytising about their latest diet, while The Better Brain deals with mental wellbeing.
Defiance, rude awakenings all the rage in Covid pandemic
Defiance, rude awakenings all the rage in Covid pandemic
It would have been a rude awakening, except I was already awake.
Rice pudding: small pleasures loom large - as do tears
Rice pudding: small pleasures loom large - as do tears
Three bowls in, I realise I have come full circle on rice pudding.
Flashing sense of mortality: a letter to my dear new grandson
Flashing sense of mortality: a letter to my dear new grandson
Dear new grandson, I apologise for being a little dramatic the day we met.
More time, chess series real boost
More time, chess series real boost
The Star is investigating the health of clubs in Dunedin. This week, reporter Elspeth McLean chats to Otago Chess Club about the state of play.
Contact tracing tools an issue to keep tabs on
Contact tracing tools an issue to keep tabs on
Awkward does not begin to describe my behaviour.
Life’s underlying rhythms pay no heed to disruption
Life’s underlying rhythms pay no heed to disruption
Dear new grandson.
Public has interest in report
Public has interest in report
With health issues dominating the news cycle during the Covid-19 pandemic, former Otago Daily Times health reporter Elspeth McLean questions whether the Government’s management of the wider health...
Self-improvement fancies may falter but hope must not
Self-improvement fancies may falter but hope must not
Extra thinking time because I have almost no work has been a mixed blessing.
Things get comfortingly domestic as lockdown gets under way
Things get comfortingly domestic as lockdown gets under way
In the final hour before lockdown, I was on my hands and knees scrubbing my kitchen's wooden floor with Sunlight soap, writes Elspeth McLean.
Patient flow indictment on system, prof says
Patient flow indictment on system, prof says
Dunedin Hospital’s issues with patient flow, which seem to have changed little in more than a decade, are an indictment on the way the healthcare system works, Prof Robin Gauld says.
Placing accelerator in Central put on agenda
Placing accelerator in Central put on agenda
The possibility of Central Otago eventually housing the Southern District Health Board’s fourth linear accelerator was raised by board chief executive Chris Fleming at the board’s monthly meeting...
Health funding boost to match population
Health funding boost to match population
A slight increase in population projections for Southern District Health Board’s area should result in an increase in board funding, but the exact impact is not yet known.
Cash advance for SDHB
Cash advance for SDHB
The Southern District Health Board has been given an advance of $25million to ease its cash flow situation.
SDHB warns of coronavirus limitations
SDHB warns of coronavirus limitations
People need to be aware SDHB hospitals will have a limited capacity to deal with severe Covid-19 cases should the disease eventually begin circulating in the community, board chief medical officer Nigel Millar says.
SDHB chief presses need for change
SDHB chief presses need for change
High numbers of stranded patients and blockages in the flow of patients through SDHB's hospitals could be remedied if clinical leaders embraced the need for changes, board chief executive Chris Fleming says.