Eileen Goodwin

A Dunedin Hospital nurse says her ward is understaffed, nurses are demoralised and patient safety is at risk.

Southland Hospital nurses might be brought to Dunedin Hospital to address a nursing staffing "crisis" in Dunedin, New Zealand Nurses Organisation associate industrial services manager GlendaAlexander says.

Southern Community Laboratories in Dunedin has apologised to the Otago woman who had a mastectomy by mistake earlier this year, SCL pathologist and medical director Dr Peter Fitzgerald says.

Women should not hesitate to ask for a second opinion on being advised they need a mastectomy, as the resulting delay is not likely to worsen the cancer, breast cancer survivor Dr Sue Walthert says.

More older patients are turning up in Dunedin Hospital's emergency department, prompting fears the cost of primary health care is putting some off visiting the GP.

Firefighters were at the scene of a blaze yesterday which rendered this Mosgiel state house uninhabitable.

Holding a ship's wheel, Port Chalmers Historical Society president Norman Ledgerwood is preparing for the Port Chalmers Maritime Museum's $150,000 upgrade.

Two Southland Hospital nurses have been transferred to Dunedin Hospital this week on a temporary basis to help alleviate a nursing shortage.

First-year student Dana Smith missed more than half of her last year at high school while she underwent operations arising from Crohn's disease.

The Southern District Health Board is the first DHB in New Zealand to approve introduction of full electronic prescribing for its main hospitals, it was announced yesterday.

On his 21st birthday, recovering spinal injury patient Austen Haig will run the Moro Half Marathon in Dunedin.

The Court of Appeal has thrown out an appeal by the Ministry of Health regarding payments for parents who care for their disabled children.

Smokers wanting to break the habit should not put too much faith in pharmaceutical aids, smoking cessation specialist Dr Hayden McRobbie says.