Mike Houlahan

A long-standing passion for and involvement in human rights law has led to Dunedin lawyer Sarah Eyre being appointed one of five new deputy chairmen and women to the Human Rights Review Tribunal.

Landing on one D-Day beach would have been enough for most people, but on June 6, 1944, Wilf Townsend was one of those rare people to set foot on two.

In Budget week it is really quite an achievement to get anything other than the country's finances on the national political agenda.

Southern District Health Board medical officer of health Marion Poore retired from the SDHB yesterday. She spoke to health reporter Mike Houlahan about a life’swork devoted to community health.

This may have been the Wellbeing Budget, but Budget 2019's bottom-line numbers show Finance Minister Grant Robertson has not taken his eye off the nation's wealth.

Yesterday's Budget confirmed funding for the biggest building project in the health sector, the new Dunedin Hospital, as well as allocating $1.7billion over two years to upgrading other hospitals.

The Southern District Health Board has instigated a formal investigation involving an independent midwife into a Lumsden woman giving birth in an ambulance on Sunday.

The Southern District Health Board needs to talk to the Ministry of Health about the provision of mental health services, given the parlous state of Wakari Hospital, chief executive Chris Fleming...

Suicide, one of the biggest issues that confronted the Government inquiry into mental health and addiction services, remains a sticking point.

The Southern District Health Board has commissioned an independent review into the circumstances which saw a Lumsden woman give birth in an ambulance on Sunday.

The Southern District Health Board remains ahead of target for elective surgery despite the disruption caused by the resident doctor's strike, a report to be presented to board commissioners today...

Heath Minister David Clark says he will hold the Southern District Health Board commissioner to account if promised maternity services are not put in place in Southland.

Mental health facilities at Wakari Hospital are no longer fit for use and staff are considering asking the Government to fund a revamp.

Staff at Breathe Financial, the investment company fronted by Barry Kloogh, have moved to distance themselves from the investigation into their former boss.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she is ''happy to have another look'' at maternity services in Lumsden, following the birth of a local baby on the way to Southland Hospital on Sunday morning.

It is a common refrain that politicians never listen to the people.

The Serious Fraud Office raid on the premises of financial adviser Barry Kloogh was a total surprise and had devastated the family, his brother Geoff Kloogh says.

The Southern District Health Board's recently appointed director of mental health says improving services throughout the wider region will be one of his priorities.