Southland gastroenterology patients may be offered appointments in Dunedin as the Southern District Health Board tries to clear its backlog of overdue colonoscopies.
Clarification of Ministry of Health funding for Covid-19 recovery surgery has given the Southern District Health Board a financial incentive to tackle its backlog of elective operations.
Setting up the southern Covid-19 vaccination system has taken staff away from other immunisation programmes and is using people who might otherwise be contact-tracing.
Just as circumstances prevented National’s newly-elected MPs from making their maiden speeches when they intended, Southern Say’s plans to look at those orations last week fell by the wayside.
Martial artist Matt Sara is embroiled in a fight of a different sort, with International Taekwondo New Zealand about whether he can attempt to qualify for a black belt.
Parliament broke fresh ground with its first "local issues" debate this week, offering MPs the chance to speak but, crucially, they need to focus on a matter of local rather than national importance.
Patients spent up to 24 hours languishing in the corridors of Dunedin Hospital waiting to be seen earlier this week, as capacity issues in the beleaguered building reached crisis point.