Elspeth McLean

The Southern District Health Board is planning for an 18% increase in elective eye surgery next financial year.

Colorectal cancer research at the University of Otago will receive a boost of at least $135,000 over three years as the result of a Masonic Lodge fellowship launched in Dunedin yesterday.

Advice from the expert panel advising the Southern District Health Board on the future set-up of Wakatipu health services will be considered at the board's August 5 meeting.

Having a "nice flash car" and believing you are a good driver does not mean your child passengers are safe, injury prevention researcher Dr Jean Simpson says.

The outcome of the National Health Board team's assessment of Dunedin Hospital systems should be known by the middle of next month.

Maintenance costs kept in check at Southern District Health Board to help reduce the budget deficit this year may increase next year, it was suggested at last week's board meeting.

Queenstown senior doctors are cautiously hopeful about the decision to bring in an independent panel to sort out future health services in the area, Association of Senior Medical Specialists Association executive director Ian Powell says.

While Otago and Southland breathed a sigh of relief after the announcement last November that neurosurgery would be retained in Dunedin, many in New Zealand's neurosurgery community remained unhappy. Correspondence released to the Otago Daily Times shows how the battle raged on behind the scenes.

This month's shortlisting of applicants for two of the three Dunedin-based neurosurgeon positions shows how quickly the South Island Neurosurgical Service has been able to make progress since its first board meeting in January.

If the public thought all was sweetness and light in medical circles after the decision to retain neurosurgery in Dunedin, they were mistaken.

Did the Canterbury District Health Board, which for the most part chose to stay silent during the debate over location of South Island neurosurgery services, receive a fair hearing? Documentation released in February suggests it feels it did not, writes Elspeth McLean.

Fewer than half of Dunedin Hospital patients requiring acute surgery receive it within the ideal time, with some required to fast on several days while they wait.

Health Minister Tony Ryall has welcomed the National Health Board's assessment of Dunedin Hospital systems announced this week.

A National Health Board team is being brought in to assess Dunedin Hospital systems, prompted by ongoing concerns about aspects of the hospital's performance.