SDHB

Personal care appears to be increasing as the health board reduces general home help and the two might be connected, Southern District Health Board member Richard Thomson said at the board's full meeting yesterday.

The Southern Health Board expects to spend $705,935 next financial year on B4 school checks for 3050 children.

An arrangement allowing for some patients requiring radiation treatment for cancer to be transferred between Christchurch and Dunedin services is expected to be formalised by the Southern District Health Board today.

A public forum, petitions and deputations session is proposed for the beginning of Southern District Health Board meetings, but there will be strict limits on what is allowed.

A service club's donation is helping Wakari Hospital patients get out and about without having to call a taxi.

Spending by the Southern District Health Board on travel and accommodation for patients and families has been increasing and is likely to be $1.3 million higher than expected this financial year.

Committee members for the new Southern District Health Board have been announced, subject to ratification at the next board meeting in June.

How to keep up services and reduce its deficit is the concern which looms large for Southern District Health Board members asked about the biggest issue facing the new organisation.

A Southern District Health Board mental health contract process is on hold after a union complained staff who might be out of a job were not properly consulted.

A delay in the introduction of the new Southern Primary Health Organisation has been reluctantly accepted by the Southern District Health Board, but it must not result in extra costs, Errol Millar says.