Dunedin Hospital

Otago has recorded the country's second highest rate of Caesarean section births, a Ministry of Health report shows.

Two Dunedin Hospital operating theatre staff were pleasantly surprised yesterday when their pet project was approved on the spot after it was pitched to a Southern District Health Board judging panel.

Patients are waiting three weeks for "urgent" computerised tomography (CT) scans at Dunedin Hospital - a week more than the target of two weeks.

Rules to prohibit members of the public entering staff cafes at Dunedin and Wakari Hospitals have been relaxed, despite a survey showing the move is opposed by nearly a third of staff.

Otago patients are being offered routine MRI scans in Invercargill because waiting lists are too long at Dunedin Hospital, a report to a Southern District Health Board committee says.

The senior doctors' union is unimpressed with what it calls a "petty point-scoring" open letter Southern District Health Board management has sent Dunedin Hospital emergency department staff.

For young cancer patients, filling in the hours while receiving treatment at Dunedin Hospital can be a added challenge.

Dunedin Hospital Emergency Department (ED) specialists have warned the Southern District Health Board they cannot provide adequate cover for the department's new observation unit.

A former Dunedin Hospital nurse has been censured by the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal for professional misconduct for having a relationship with a patient.

An acute surgery special project at Dunedin Hospital granted $419,000 last year never began because of staff recruitment problems.