PSO

Restraining an 85-year-old dementia sufferer several times in 2010 indicated systemic failures at Dunedin's Ross Home and Hospital, deputy Health and Disability Commissioner Theo Baker has found.

Presbyterian Support Otago has confirmed it will lose more than 460 staff as a result of being dropped from home-based support work, while it plans further reviews of its corporate structure.

Presbyterian Support Otago (PSO) has decided against taking legal action over its dumping as a home-support provider, saying it wants to avoid uncertainty for clients and staff.

A Presbyterian Support Otago (PSO) deputation failed yesterday to sway the Southern District Health Board, which will press ahead with plans to dump the organisation from home-based services as early as next month.

The rationalisation of home-support services that saw Presbyterian Support Otago (PSO) dumped as a provider will help prevent further budget overspending in disability support, a Southern District Health Board committee heard yesterday.

The Southern District Health Board unleashed widespread upset across the region with its decision just before Christmas to dump Presbyterian Support Otago (PSO) and Disabilities Resource Centre Southland (DRCS) from home support contracts.

Grey Power wants an ''open honest answer'' from the Southern District Health Board about why it ''wiped out'' a trusted local provider of home support for older people, Grey Power Otago president Jo Millar says.

Dumped home-support provider Presbyterian Support Otago (PSO) will appeal to the Southern District Health Board at its meeting next Friday to be reinstated and, if unsuccessful, will seek a High Court interim injunction.

Presbytarian Support Otago (PSO) will decide this week whether to go ahead with a legal challenge over a decision to dump the organisation as a home support provider, its chief executive says. This comes after the Southern District Health Board declined a PSO request asking to meet board members, on the basis of a legal opinion.

The Southern District Health Board has not adequately explained its decision to dump Presbyterian Support Otago (PSO) as a home-based support provider, Dunedin South MP Clare Curran told a protest in Dunedin yesterday.