Building work is yet to start on the $24.4 million upgrade of Dunedin and Wakari hospital facilities because the Minister of Health has not approved the Southern District Health Board budget for this year.
Dunedin health policy researcher Associate Prof Robin Gauld says his success in the British Medical Association medical books awards this month is like winning an Academy Award or Golden Globe.
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.
Veteran health services campaigner Paula Stickings is ready to do battle again over neurosurgery services. Health reporter Elspeth McLean finds out why she is speaking out this time.
A one-site service in Christchurch is the only option for South Island neurosurgery, Christchurch Hospital's neurosurgery clinical director says.
A woman's lengthy battle to have her 62-year-old partner with Parkinson's disease provided with respite care in a place suited to his age has been successful.
A small end-of-year surplus has allowed the Otago Community Hospice to employ two staff to extend its services.
Southern Blood and Cancer Service is offering a substantially reduced haematology service as it copes with one haematologist instead of its usual three, after two specialists left.
Bells at Dunedin's First Church will be ringing out at 9.09am today to mark World Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Day.
All but one New Zealand university has slipped in rankings in the latest international survey of tertiary institutions, with the University of Otago dropping 10 places.
The petition calling for retention of neurosurgery services in Dunedin has been referred to Parliament's health committee.
Invercargill MP Eric Roy is expected to formally table a neurosurgery petition containing 55,741 signatures in Parliament this afternoon.
Members of the South Island neurosurgery services expert panel have returned to their homes following last week's meetings in the South and it is not yet known when they may return.
Warren Palmer is grateful for his quality of life - a quality which has allowed him to experience both sadness over the death of a much loved pet dog and the joy of a granddaughter's birth. ...
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".
While legal issues involved in the neurosurgery row are still under scrutiny, South Canterbury District Health Board chief executive Chris Fleming says he would expect all of the South Island boards to endorse the findings of the expert panel.
The South Island neurosurgery expert panel will arrive in Invercargill this morning, after a full-day hearing with Canterbury health and community leaders.
The Southern District Health Board's proposed budget showing an $18.5 million deficit has been rejected by the Ministry of Health and a revised plan is expected to be submitted this week.
If centralising neurosurgery disenfranchised a significant number of people and put remote communities at risk, the long-term costs would outweigh any perceived efficiency, Otago and Southland civic leaders told the South Island neurosurgery expert panel in Dunedin yesterday.
Neurosurgery patients and families gave pointed advice to the South Island neurosurgery expert panel last night as they shared poignant stories of their experiences.
