The Southland District Health Board will today be asked to support the proposed pilot scheme which would give some public-hospital cancer patients the option of paying for extra drugs.
Wakari resident Gillian Thomas was able to relax and concentrate on making strawberry jam yesterday afternoon after finding out her 17-year-old son, Billy Greer, was safe in Santiago, Chile.
Too late, I realised they were not taking my concerns seriously. The fact they kept pulling down the necks of their T-shirts, exposing their bras and shrieking "You've been cleavaged!" should have been a clue.
A letter urging Otago and Southland general practitioners to show restraint when prescribing medicines - in a move to save money - should be retracted, the New Zealand Pharmacy Guild says.
Otago District Health Board may be penalised for doing elective surgery for other boards but doing less than planned for its own patients, hospital advisory committee chairman Richard Thomson says.
Reaction by general practitioners to the outcome of the recent audit report of 33 referrals to Dunedin Hospital colonoscopy service has been positive, South Link Health executive director Prof Murray Tilyard said.
Planned industrial action by medical radiation technologists could affect the Otago District Health Board's ability to meet its elective surgery targets, chief executive Brian Rousseau says.
The general issue of unfunded treatments being provided in public hospitals should be considered nationally through a considered rigorous process, the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists says.
A year-long pilot scheme offering some Dunedin Hospital cancer patients the option of paying for extra drug treatment should go to the Health Minister Tony Ryall for approval, the Otago District Health Board says.
A toss of a coin has determined that the first meeting of the new Southern District Health Board will be in Invercargill on May 6, Otago chairman Errol Millar advised yesterday.
In another move to cut spending on the elderly in Otago and Southland, people referred to rest-homes in future will be "stood down" for about six months to see if they can be supported at home.
Despite progress on moves to save money on community care for the elderly, the Otago District Health Board still expects to be over budget in this area by $2.3 million this financial year.
Providing unfunded cancer drugs in public hospitals could undermine Pharmac's negotiations for the purchase of some medicines, the drug-buying agency says.
Otago and Southland rates of bowel cancer are the highest in the world and the district health boards merger is a good opportunity to improve diagnostic services for the illness, health researcher Assoc Prof Brian Cox says.
Treatment delays for six rectal cancer patients could result in "poorer outcomes", the audit of 33 referrals to Dunedin Hospital colonoscopy service suggests.
While Otago District Health Board has improved or maintained its performance in meeting the Government's six health targets, its ratings against other boards have slipped in two areas.
Any future upgrading of the Otago District Health Board's therapeutic pool should be paid for by those who use it rather than the board, Richard Thomson says.
Only one of the 33 patients from the recent audit of referrals to Dunedin Hospital's colonoscopy service has sought a meeting with senior management so far.
Three South Island areas are now on the list of 11 hard-to-staff communities which are covered under the Government's voluntary bonding scheme for health graduates.
The number of smokers lighting up near Dunedin Hospital's entrance appears to have dropped, Otago District Health Board member Richard Thomson says.
