The proportion of year 10 Otago pupils who have never smoked a cigarette has more than doubled in the last 10 years, according to the annual Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) snapshot survey.
The hopes of the Otago and Southland district health boards to save up to $1.3 million a year by charging for laboratory tests ordered by private specialists are unlikely to be realised any time soon.
A plan for Harbour Cone may include selling parts of the 328ha property, but this would not be done without stringent protections, Cr Dave Cull says.
Work is expected to start soon on protective fencing for some of the native plants on the Harbour Cone block owned by the Dunedin City Council.
The Minister of Health, Tony Ryall, has acknowledged his failure to meet obligations under the Official Information Act in two instances following complaints by the Otago Daily Times to the Office of the Ombudsmen.
If targets for reducing housework support for the elderly in Otago are met, monthly hours allocated will drop by more than 3500 between now and the end of the year.
The existing primary health organisation (PHO) set-up in the South is generally delivering a poor return on investment and two large bodies across Otago, Southland and South Canterbury could be better, Chris Fraser says.
Michael Guest's application to be restored to the roll of barristers and solicitors is being opposed by the New Zealand Law Society.
There is unlikely to be another round of consultation over revamping school dental services and fears that large numbers of Otago children could end up with " black and toothless smiles" are unfounded, district health board managers say.
The cold persuaded me to unsafely leave the electric blanket cranked up, just while I read a few pages.
There is no need for people to panic about possible future changes to the way care might be provided for the elderly in Otago, David Chrisp says.
The Otago Daily Times spoke with three people before and after the budget - a young professional, a worker nearing retirement and the owner of a small/medium business. This is what they had to say.
Otago District Health Board chairman Erroll Millar says he is "enormously grateful" for the level of health funding announced in yesterday's Budget, which amounted to 40% of new Government spending.
The Dunedin Hospital emergency department's "Putting our Patients First" project has made some gains, but may not get much further without a change of culture at the hospital, emergency specialist Dr Tim Kerruish says.
He might not have remembered them, but Dunedin Hospital staff and others who had treated him in 2002 certainly knew Kevin Ormsby when he returned to Dunedin late last week.
The Otago District Health Board needs to drive quality improvement measures at Dunedin Hospital and staff who insist on doing things the way they always have should "grow up", a health policy researcher says.
A suggestion that the most significant barrier to clinical leadership at the Otago District Health Board is a lack of money and time has been described as "a cop-out" by Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director, Ian Powell.
No patient wants the bed or wheelchair they are using to be at risk of falling apart, but that is a concern for severely obese patients at Dunedin Hospital, head of the paediatrics and child health section Prof Barry Taylor says.
A letter which is the subject of an urgent suppression order being sought by former Dunedin lawyer Michael Guest was removed from the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal website yesterday evening.
Health workers travelling long distances in rural areas in separate cars to serve the same people is "just dumb", combined Otago and Southland District Health Boards committees were told this week.
