Mike Houlahan

Healthcare travel assistance scheme needs improvement

Healthcare travel assistance scheme needs improvement

The national travel assistance scheme - which helps hundreds of Southerners with their travel costs to receive specialist hospital care - has "significant room for improvement", the Ministry of...

Resident doctors may strike for week

Junior doctors protest today during a strike for better conditions. Photo: Peter McIntosh

Resident doctors may strike for week

Furious resident doctors are poised to walk off the job for a week after contract talks between their union and district health boards imploded last week.

Focus on complexity of brain

Brain research has made great strides but there is still a long way to go before scientists understand how the organ which runs our central nervous system works.

Carer’s role too often overlooked

Carers’ Society Otago community worker Jackie Stewart and manager Susan Easterbrook. PHOTO:...

Carer’s role too often overlooked

They are the invisible workforce, the thousands of relatives and friends who care for someone without payment. In the latest part of the Otago Daily Times series on ageing, Mike Houlahan looks...

More open government welcome move

Fifteen submitters didn't get a chance to speak at Parliament today. Photo: Getty Images

More open government welcome move

For most people, Parliament is the 10-second snippets they see on television of Jacinda Ardern and Simon Bridges shouting at each other across the debating chamber at Question Time.

Andersons Bay house fire extinguished

Firefighters at the scene in Bayfield Rd on Thursday evening. Photo: Gregor Richardson

Andersons Bay house fire extinguished

Fire forced the evacuation of an Andersons Bay home in Dunedin yesterday evening.

Wanaka maternal and child hub announcement coming

Wanaka maternal and child hub announcement coming

A site for the Wanaka maternal and child hub should be announced within days, the Southern District Health Board says.

SDHB positive despite challenges

Commissioner Kathy Grant. Photo by Peter McIntosh

SDHB positive despite challenges

A $25.9million budget deficit was a "significant challenge" but Southern District Health Board commissioner Kathy Grant has told Parliament she believes the organisation is on sound foundations for...

Critical care unit operational

Intensive Care Unit Charge Nurse Manager Shayne Wylie, pictured with Southern DHB Chief Executive...

Critical care unit operational

Three months later than planned, Dunedin Hospital's new $14.8million critical care unit is finally operational.

Otago Polytech making 'very compelling case'

The Protect Our Polytech campaign seems to be gaining traction, with Education Minister Chris Hipkins calling Otago Polytechnic's argument "compelling".

Toe nearly severed in 'rail incident'

Toe nearly severed in Port Chalmers 'rail incident'

A man's toe was nearly severed after his leg was caught in the coupling between a locomotive and a wagon at Port Chalmers this evening.

Flu already being felt in Otago

Woman sick in bed with pills, cold. Photo: Getty Images

Flu already being felt in Otago

The flu vaccine will not be available until April but the disease has not waited that long.

Suffrage stories to feature at A&P show

Heritage NZ assessment advisers Susan Irvine (left) and Sarah Gallagher show posters telling the...

Suffrage stories to feature at A&P show

Constitutional history sounds an unlikely exhibit subject at an A&P show, but Heritage New Zealand expects the stories of 12 colonial women in Otago and Southland will strike a chord with...

Colorectal cancer rates underlined

The South's reputation for having one of the highest colorectal cancer rates in New Zealand has been confirmed by a newly issued Ministry of Health report.

Physio Pool site not needed by new hospital

The future of Dunedin's Physio Pool may be a little more secure after confirmation the land it sits on would not be used for building part of the new Dunedin Hospital.

Drug advertising ethics needed: study

Advertisements for medicines can be ethically dubious and encourage people leading unhealthy lifestyles to believe a drug could be a "silver bullet'' for their ailments, new research suggests.

A nose for disease needed for the job

German shepherd Levi, in training as a medical detection dog, with trainer Pauline Blomfield....

A nose for disease needed for the job

Like many 9-month-olds, Levi is enthusiastic and curious, traits which make him perfect for his intended career in medicine.

Adverse behaviour high in the South

Adverse behaviour high in the South

Suspected suicide, serious self-harm and serious adverse behaviour statistics are high in the South because of a "strong culture" of reporting adverse events, the Southern District Health Board says.

Ageing population faces carer shortage

More than 30,000 people are employed in aged care nationally, a workforce which will need to increase by at least half to cope with the ageing population. The Otago Daily Times series on ageing...

Rest-home life family affair for resident

Glendale Retirement Home resident Lillian Adie (78) with caregivers - and family members -...

Rest-home life family affair for resident

As befits the widow of the "Brockville battler'' - former Dunedin Ratepayers Association president Syd Adie - Lillian Adie was causing issues for the staff at Glendale Retirement Home as soon as she arrived.

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Mike Houlahan