It hurts me to say it, but the Old School Mate was a step ahead of me when it came to seeing the possibilities for the over-shoe sock.
Reducing the pay gap between New Zealand senior doctors and their Australian counterparts, which in some cases iss more than $100,000, is in the public interest, Association of Salaried Medical Specialists Association executive director Ian Powell says.
Reintroduction of part charges for ACC physiotherapy could mean delays in treatment as district health board physiotherapy services around the country come under pressure, dean of the University of Otago's physiotherapy school Prof John Baxter says.
New appointment rules and restrictions on visiting some particularly vulnerable patients at Dunedin Hospital have been introduced as part of the Otago District Health Board's swine flu management.
Many Dunedin people have heeded the call to ensure they are correctly recorded on the electoral roll ready for the forthcoming referendum.
While unions are delighted with an Employment Court decision which could eventually cost the Government millions of dollars to boost the pay of at least 15,000 workers, the legal issues are yet to be resolved.
Concern at the way the Otago District Health Board is handling possible changes to the way community services are allocated to the rural elderly has been expressed by Public Service Association organiser Julie Morton.
Otago seasonal flu vaccination rates are up by about 4800 compared with last year, and are likely to rise further as the vaccinations are now free.
While Otago dental therapists can see the revamping of school dental services will improve their practice, they are uneasy about what the changes may mean for their working conditions, Public Service Association union organiser Julie Morton says.
The Public Records Act audits of more than 2000 organisations which will begin next year are expected to focus on how organisations can improve rather than punishing them for failings.
Today's world hunger problems could be addressed with appropriate use of existing technology without using genetic modification, Prof Bob Watson says.
Eleven cases of swine flu, mostly in older children and teenagers, have been confirmed in Otago and Southland.
People who want to make sure they are sent voting papers promptly for the citizens-initiated referendum next month have less than a week to ensure they are on the main electoral roll.
The changeover to the new patient information system at Dunedin Hospital was ahead of schedule yesterday and expected to be completed early today.
An Otago District Health Board staff saving suggestion, cutting taxi use between Wakari and Dunedin Hospitals, is a "no-brainer" which might save up to $150,000, chief operating officer Vivian Blake says.
Dunedin Hospital staff will record patient information the old-fashioned way today, while a new patient information management system is implemented.
It's nothing to do with appendages, or envy of them, but sometimes I wish I were a boy. Only last week I wished I were a year 9 or 10 (third or fourth form) boy at Rongotai College.
People who suggest that solving food shortages could be achieved through improving distribution are "living in cloud cuckoo land", a leading authority on sustainable agriculture, Prof Jules Pretty, says.
New Zealand is a country efficiently overproducing the wrong foods, and it could think more laterally about land use, Prof Tim Lang says.
The move to urban gardens and the notion people could feed themselves within 80km of their homes was not an alternative to food trade, Prof Caroline Saunders told the Foreign Policy School in Dunedin at the weekend.
