ODHB

A Central Otago woman who complained about the failure of Southern District Health Board doctors to find her bowel cancer says improvements to colonoscopy services have been too slow.

Health and Disability Commissioner Anthony Hill says his office took too long to complete an investigation into a complaint from a woman with secondary cancer.

An alliance with Wellington's neurosurgery department might be needed to ensure the future of the South Island neurosurgical service through providing a big enough population base for sub-specialisation, former governance board chairman Prof Andrew Kaye says in the service's annual report.

Funding for skin lesion removal in general practice should be increased to help the Southern District Health Board's struggling ear, nose, and throat (ENT) service, Dr Peter Ripley says.

The frequency of committee meetings was under scrutiny at yesterday's inaugural disability support and community and public health advisory committee meeting in Dunedin, with one member saying once every two months was not enough.

"If you make a difference for one family, then it's worthwhile." Since the death of her teenage son in 2003, Oamaru woman Helen Algar has been involved in raising public awareness about text-message bullying.

Convicted fraudster Michael Swann has been ordered to pay $6 million to the Crown and forfeit $4.4 million worth of property bought with money stolen from the Otago District Health Board.

The University of Otago is keen to see a "strong academic component" in any future South Island neurosurgery service, the university's health sciences pro-vice-chancellor, Prof Don Roberton, says.

There has been little to laugh about in the neurosurgery debate, but expert panel member Glenn McCulloch raised smiles at meeting of about 1000 people in Invercargill yesterday when he referred to himself as "an ignorant Australian".

The former Otago and Southland district health boards have shown progress towards meeting all six health targets in the last quarter of the year, the latest figures show.

Once again, the defenders of Otago and Southland's health services are doing battle - this time over the future of Dunedin's neurosurgical services. But, is there more at stake? One of the seasoned warriors from battles past thinks there might be. Mark Price reports.

Ten months of "paperwork" delays have prompted an overseas-recruited neurosurgeon to stay in the United Kingdom as the Otago District Health Board continues to rely on locums to provide neurosurgery services.

The outcome of the Otago District Health Board's fight to retain neurosurgery services in Dunedin may be clearer by next Friday.

Dunedin Mayor Peter Chin says he has his "loins girded" and is ready to advocate for retention of neurosurgeons in Dunedin should that prove necessary.

Emergency care for people in remote areas of Otago and Southland could be compromised if neurosurgery is offered only from Christchurch, Dunedin-based National list MP Michael Woodhouse says.