Tag Archives: Clinical Services

Democracy, a little strange looking here and there

ODT 12.5.17 (page 16)

Not sure the above is the “nature of democracy”.
Ownership more often than not has rights to what Democracy might be, for better or worse. Democracy is the dull moving target around traction of tolerance and accommodation, alternately characterised by recklessness, drilling, handholding, gutless audacity and full oppositional war. And finally, perhaps, it is Comedy of Errors (the big CE) – to do with pique, vanity, providence, chess-like cunning, ill temper and quarrelsome kicks, artful dodging, strange bed fellows, lousy cracks at definition, ruthless assaults and incursions, “Territory”, chiming disgust, stiff ultimatums, the surrender to power, corruption or fraud…..and all notions, wagons, bonfires that encircle ‘the final word’ and last stands, angry trumpet votes to Brexit, chaste lookalikes, injury, ill health….. Jesus weeps.

### ODT Online Wed, 12 Apr 2017
Hospital rebuild: back off but don’t back down
By Hilary Calvert
OPINION If we asked Otago people what they most want from health services it would likely be health service delivery in the province at least as good as the rest of New Zealand. For example, whatever qualifies for an operation here should be the same that qualifies those up north. The Dunedin School of Medicine is vital to us as well. […] What if harassing of the Government in an imagined party political fashion just makes the Government determined to not give us what we want, since we will likely vote two local Labour people into Parliament this year? If we concentrate on telling the Government what we most want, and stop trying to tell it how it should deliver the services, we have a much better chance of getting the best result.
Read more

Comment to What if? Dunedin:

Diane Yeldon
April 14, 2017 at 11:10 pm
“Harassing of the Government in an imagined party political fashion.” Well said by Hilary Calvert. Spot on!
Here’s the meeting video for 21 Feb. Starting from 1.58.24 into the video, you can watch the discussion on the resolution which authorised the [Dunedin Hospital SOS] campaign. This was the Notice of Motion put forward by Cr Benson-Pope and seconded by Cr Hawkins.
There was no information in the agenda about how much the ‘asking for support’ would cost or how the ‘asking for support’ would be carried out. Nor did any councillors ask questions about this. Their attention was focused solely on discussing the rights and wrongs of the hospital siting (with only a couple of councillors saying they didn’t think it was any of their business.)
I can’t help wondering if many of the councillors did not understood that this ‘asking for support’ would result in unleashing a full-blown advertising campaign with leaflet drop, website and newspaper ads costing so far $12,000! I wonder if the motion had been taken in two parts with the second part only about the campaign and its full extent and costs disclosed the majority would have still voted in favour.

Dunedin City Council Published on Feb 26, 2017
Dunedin City Council – Public Forum + Council Meeting – 21 February 2017
Minutes, agendas and reports related to this meeting can be found at https://goo.gl/Eis3sK

[decisionmaker.co.nz] formatted by whatifdunedin

Related Posts and Comments:
● 8.4.17 Questions over Council’s Dunedin Hospital SOS campaign
● 6.4.17 ODT editor comments strongly #tick —Dunedin Hospital rebuild
● 27.3.17 Site Notice #DunedinHospital
● 26.2.17 Dunedin Hospital Redevelopment
● 6.2.17 Let the Ombudsman recommend for democracy at SDHB
● 24.1.17 SDHB/Govt : Physio Pool GRIEF
● 9.1.17 Audit NZ admonishes commissioner Grant and SDHB #Health
● 18.12.16 DCC set to take away CBD car parks without Economic Impact research
20.11.16 Delta at Dunedin Hospital #worseluck
7.11.16 SDHB #FAILS with Healthcare Communication and Governance

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

*Image: batmanrobin by Mike Luckovich 2016 @njc.com [via truthdig.com] tweaked by whatifdunedin

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Questions over Council’s Dunedin Hospital SOS campaign

Received from Diane Yeldon
Fri, 7 April 2017 at 4:06 p.m.

OPINION

What’s wrong with the DCC Dunedin Hospital SOS Campaign?

If you clear away all the smoke from the party-political bluster, bickering and name–calling arising over this campaign, has the Dunedin City Council really done anything out of order? Or were some councillors, in fact, a majority, just trying to do their best for the people of Dunedin?

Unfortunately, the road to hell can be paved with good intentions. A council communication cannot be a political advertisement.

The Electoral Act more or less defines a political advertisement as anything which persuades or encourages voters to vote in a particular way. But our democratic rights to participate in government decision-making are not limited to voting once every three years. Citizens also have the right to petition Government, make submissions to select committees and other public authorities and deliberative bodies, and lobby MPs and Government Ministers.

If local councillors had been presented with a motion which proposed the following : that the Council encourages and persuades voters to choose candidate A, they would have rightly been horrified and would have rejected it.

In comparison, a single, short and final paragraph in a council motion which proposes that the Council should ask for public support for ONLY its own preferred position on a central government decision, and that people make such views known to central government, looks harmless and is quite likely to pass unnoticed – and, in fact, did. But it is just as political. It encourages people to use their democratic rights in a particular way.

The council staff should have alerted councillors that this was the case and that such political activism was beyond the proper scope of any local body. The difference in wording may be subtle but the democratic principles involved are significant and far-reaching.

Monday, 3 April 2017

[ends]

Dunedin City Council’s Dunedin Hospital SOS petition states:
“I demand that central government redevelops Dunedin Hospital in the centre of the city. The government must also make a clear commitment to retain a top flight teaching hospital for Dunedin and the wider Otago/Southland region.
Save Our Site. Save Our Services.”

Petition at the DCC-managed SOS website [framed screenshot]

At the bottom of the webpage, DCC says:
“Dunedin Hospital SOS
The Dunedin City Council (“DCC”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) operates, hosts, or manages a number of websites, including DunedinHospitalSOS.nz. This site was created and funded following a Council resolution (21 February 2017) to communicate to Government its complete opposition to a rebuild of Dunedin Hospital outside the central city. It is not a permanent website.”

How the petition got off the ground by Council vote (21 February 2017) on the Notice of Motion:

[screenshots – click to enlarge]

DCC Council 21.2.17 Agenda – 15 Notice of Motion Dunedin Hospital Rebuild

DCC Council 21.2.17 Minutes – 15 Notice of Motion Dunedin Hospital Rebuild

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The DCC Dunedin Hospital SOS flyer and Facebook campaign cost Ratepayers $7,102 (excl GST). Ratepayers also find themselves footing the bill for a DCC-led SOS media campaign:

ODT Online 8.4.17 [screenshot]

Related Posts and Comments:
● 6.4.17 ODT editor comments strongly #tick —Dunedin Hospital rebuild
● 27.3.17 Site Notice #DunedinHospital
● 26.2.17 Dunedin Hospital Redevelopment
● 6.2.17 Let the Ombudsman recommend for democracy at SDHB
● 24.1.17 SDHB/Govt : Physio Pool GRIEF
● 9.1.17 Audit NZ admonishes commissioner Grant and SDHB #Health
● 18.12.16 DCC set to take away CBD car parks without Economic Impact research
20.11.16 Delta at Dunedin Hospital #worseluck
7.11.16 SDHB #FAILS with Healthcare Communication and Governance

█ For more, enter the terms *hospital*, *sdhb* and *swann* in the search box at right.

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

61 Comments

Filed under Business, DCC, Democracy, Dunedin, Education, Finance, Health, Hospital, Hot air, Infrastructure, Media, Name, New Zealand, OAG, Ombudsman, People, Pet projects, Pics, Politics, Project management, Property, Public interest, Resource management, SDHB, Site, Town planning, Transportation, Travesty, University of Otago, Urban design, What stadium

ODT editor comments strongly #tick —Dunedin Hospital rebuild

Junior councillors should think carefully about how they appear in writing and how they might appear in publicity shots on Frederick St, as a band of politicos.

BRAVO to the ODT Editor:

Wisely, this editorial had already put dogsbodies in their place:

### ODT Online Thu, 30 Mar 2017
Editorial: Hospital central to city’s needs
OPINION What a shame the Dunedin City Council is divided over its campaign to keep the city’s hospital in the central city. This is an issue which should unite Dunedin. The squabbling is distressing. The council has initiated an effort to keep the rebuilt hospital right in town, with three councillors, Lee Vandervis, Mike Lord and Doug Hall, voting against. Dunedin-based National-list MP Michael Woodhouse waded in late last week, implying the campaign was a front for the Labour Party […] There are two fundamental issues. First, on the siting of the hospital, and second on whether the council should campaign on that. As as been pointed out strongly on this newspaper’s opinion page by two distinguished Dunedin residents, Sir David Skegg (a former University of Otago vice-chancellor) and Emeritus Prof David Jones (a former university medical division head), close links between the medical school and the hospital are vital.
Read more

DCC’s ‘Dunedin Hospital SOS’ flyer and Facebook campaign cost Ratepayers $7,102 (excl GST).

[click to enlarge]

DCC says 55,000 campaign flyers were printed, with 50,000 supposedly delivered to households (however, thickish piles of flyers have been found by cleaners about town —gathering dust in corporate office tearooms and reception areas)….

ODT 25.3.17 (page 1) – tweaked by whatifdunedin

### ODT Online Sat, 25 Mar 2017
Woodhouse blasts DCC
By Eileen Goodwin
National list MP Michael Woodhouse has lashed out at the Dunedin City Council over its hospital rebuild campaign, implying it is a front for the Labour Party. And Mr Woodhouse said the council’s stance was “confusing” — on the one hand it wants a central city rebuild, but it granted the Accident Compensation Corporation the right to consider buying the Frederick St car park. ACC has a 12-month timeframe to look at development options for the site. […] Mr Woodhouse is also ACC Minister, and he made it clear he was speaking as a local MP.
Read more

Related Posts and Comments:
● 27.3.17 Site Notice #DunedinHospital
● 26.2.17 Dunedin Hospital Redevelopment
● 6.2.17 Let the Ombudsman recommend for democracy at SDHB
● 24.1.17 SDHB/Govt : Physio Pool GRIEF
● 9.1.17 Audit NZ admonishes commissioner Grant and SDHB #Health
● 18.12.16 DCC set to take away CBD car parks without Economic Impact research
20.11.16 Delta at Dunedin Hospital #worseluck
7.11.16 SDHB #FAILS with Healthcare Communication and Governance
3.9.16 SDHB ‘food’ : Our eyes glaze over . . . .
23.8.16 Win! to DCC candidate Paul Pope #DunedinHospital
22.6.16 SDHB Commissioners speed-bleed health system
1.5.16 Hospital food according to Gurglars
23.12.15 SDHB underfunded, no bandage
3.11.15 SDHB will ‘takeaway’ more than freshly cooked meals and a head chef
30.10.15 Dunedin Hospital #despair
● 17.6.15 Southern District Health Board sacked !!!
9.6.15 Southern District Health Board
16.4.15 Talk of replacing Southern District Health Board with commissioner
21.8.14 Dirty pool? #SDHB #University
6.8.14 Otago Therapeutic Pool at Dunedin Hospital
1.5.14 Dunedin Hospital buildings SORRY STATE
14.1.14 DCC: Hospital area parking changes #cyclelanes
5.12.13 Swann case: ODHB/SDHB and friends
3.8.12 Extraordinary editorials

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

10 Comments

Filed under Architecture, Business, Construction, DCC, Democracy, Design, District Plan, Dunedin, Economics, Education, Events, Finance, Health, Hospital, Hot air, Infrastructure, Media, Name, New Zealand, OAG, Ombudsman, People, Pet projects, Politics, Project management, Property, Proposed 2GP, Public interest, Resource management, SDHB, Site, Town planning, Travesty, University of Otago, Urban design, What stadium

Site Notice #DunedinHospital

This afternoon David Benson-Pope requested an unreserved apology from the website owner following publication of an image and various comments at a now deleted post concerning the Save Our Hospital campaign that was highlighted in a newspaper story published on 25 March 2017.

The website owner unreservedly apologises to Mr Benson-Pope for the publication of this material and any resulting discomfort or distress it may have caused.

An apology will be emailed to Mr Benson-Pope shortly, copy Sandy Graham, DCC.

Elizabeth Kerr
Site Owner

Reference:

### ODT Online Sat, 25 Mar 2017
Woodhouse blasts DCC
By Eileen Goodwin
National list MP Michael Woodhouse has lashed out at the Dunedin City Council over its hospital rebuild campaign, implying it is a front for the Labour Party. And Mr Woodhouse said the council’s stance was “confusing” — on the one hand it wants a central city rebuild, but it granted the Accident Compensation Corporation the right to consider buying the Frederick St car park. ACC has a 12-month timeframe to look at development options for the site. […] Mr Woodhouse is also ACC Minister, and he made it clear he was speaking as a local MP.
Read more

[ends]

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

21 Comments

Filed under Architecture, Business, Construction, Democracy, Design, Dunedin, Economics, Education, Finance, Geography, Health, Hospital, Infrastructure, Leading edge, Media, Name, New Zealand, People, Project management, Property, Public interest, SDHB, Site, University of Otago, Urban design, What stadium

Dunedin Hospital Redevelopment

ODT Online public notice:

sdhb-public-forum-25-2-17-screenshot-odt-online-2

[SDHB media release]

Public forum chance to learn more about Dunedin Hospital facilities

Friday, 17 February 2017

The public is being given the opportunity to learn more about how Dunedin’s new hospital facilities might be configured at an event being held at the end of this month.

A public forum will be held on the evening of Tuesday 28 February to update interested members of the Dunedin community on the redevelopment of Dunedin Hospital.

“The public forum is an opportunity for people to get a better understanding of how we are deciding what facilities we need and where to deliver the best health outcomes for the Southern district. It will provide a great opportunity for people to understand the kinds of issues the team has to find answers for before the architects can complete their work, and the time frames involved in the design and building process,” Chair of the Southern Partnership Group Andrew Blair says.

The forum will include a presentation, followed by a question and answer session.

Southern DHB Commissioner Kathy Grant says the forum will give the community an opportunity to learn how the project is about more than just replacing buildings.

“We want to take this opportunity for members of the public to come along and get a better understanding of this exciting project and the opportunity it presents for developing facilities that can support a modern healthcare system capable of addressing the needs of the next 40-50 years.”

Further information on the project is available at: http://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/hospital-redevelopment-projects/dunedin-hospital-redevelopment-project

Public forum details
Date: Tuesday 28 February
Time: 6-7pm
Location: Hutton Theatre, Otago Museum, 419 Gt King Street, Dunedin

Media contact:
SPG Chair Andrew Blair
andrew @blairconsulting.co.nz

SDHB Link

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

30 Comments

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DCC set to take away CBD car parks without Economic Impact research

SOMEBODY please work out how many individual car parks stand to be LOST from the CBD —all down to Council making things TOUGH for vehicle users in the Central City.

Starter list via Central City Plan and other developments:
(calculate how many individual car parks lost for each proposal)

1) Rerouting of SH1 one-way through Warehouse area and Queens Gardens ?
2) New segregated cycleways on SH1 one-way system from Warehouse area to North Dunedin ?
3) Pedestrianisation affecting Octagon, lower Stuart St and sections of George St ?
4) Hotel and apartment building, Filleul St/Moray Place ?
5) ORC Headquarters for Dowling St Carpark ? [a great site for ACC]
6) ACC office building for Frederick St Carpark ?
7) New Hospital, block bounded by Cumberland, Frederick, Castle and Hanover Sts ?
8) ORC bus hub (interchange) for Great King St and vicinity ?
9) Other ???

DCC Webmap or Google Earth will give the relative range of car park numbers. A quick sum will do.

Mayor Cull might wonder why there’s little or no “growth” likely for Dunedin.

Apart from lack of on street car parking, another starter : the city’s ‘health and position’ is undermined by the degraded Aurora power network that offers NO security of supply ahead. What does this mean for Businesses and Ratepayers via increased Rates and Line Charges, how many Business and Ratepayer defaults ??

After 25-30 years of deliberate neglect to the Aurora network, striving for “economic development” at Dunedin is nigh “Mission Impossible”.

DCC can’t afford to bring the Aurora network up to compliance —as Mayor Cull was told last Tuesday in a private meeting, it will cost a Billion Dollars to do renewals in Dunedin and Central Otago (not counting new build facilities to meet demand in Central Otago).

DCC are well and truly caught with their pants down.

THE BEST THING Central Otago people can do is buy their power network. Once made Safe, their network will generate revenue for expansion across CODC and QLDC growth areas ….Leaving sorry old Dunedin to an impecunious spiral of doom and disaster. How to rid the Dunedin millstone should be uppermost in Central Otago leaders’ minds right now.

dcc-webmap-dcc-owned-frederick-st-carpark-janfeb-2013DCC Webmap – Frederick St Carpark JanFeb 2013 (highlighted)

dcc-webmap-dunedin-hospital-and-university-health-sciences-janfeb-2013DCC Webmap – Dunedin Hospital and University health sciences JanFeb 2013

The Mayor and Councillors might think it’s AOK to skip out of an agreement with Southern Partnership Group, the Government-appointed hospital rebuild group…. SDHB and University of Otago had hoped to coordinate their future use of Frederick St carpark; it was a practical and logical proposal for university health sciences and the hospital precinct. Until…. the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) came along, with DCC then deciding to go for a quick buck. Why didn’t DCC offer ACC the Dowling St carpark, instead ? —a better centrally located construction site for the Corporation office building would be hard to find, one that could include public parking on its lower levels (and say BYE to ‘ORC imperialism’).

Squirrelling the Frederick St plum to ACC is the dumbest thing this Council could do. Student graduates – if that is the Mayor’s excuse for the Frederick St debacle – are quite capabable of walking to Queens Gardens for future employ.

Really, there never was a more useless ineffectual Southern town on the map. It has every deterrent sign needed for raccoons and new business. Tumbleweeds, cloned by Mayor Cull.

****

But wait.

Is Southern Partnership Group running scared after finding out how much it costs (a massive sum) to deal to Aurora’s transformer installation located inside the block bounded by Cumberland, Frederick, Castle and Hanover Sts – first site option for the hospital rebuild ?

The network facility comprises old transformers that could blow at any time. Of poor design, the transformers are not isolated from each other : if one transformer blows, they all do. To fuel the fireball, the transformers sit in a pool of oil. The cost to replace or relocate the facility is enough to ‘blow’ the hospital rebuild budget.

OTHER site options for the hospital rebuild rapidly gather impetus.

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wakari-hospital-affinityservices-co-nz-1Wakari Hospital [affinityservices.co.nz]

The “somewhere else” option is likely to be Wakari Hospital.
No final decisions will be made until 2018.

### ODT Online Sat, 17 Dec 2016
Hospital may be relocated
By Eileen Goodwin
The Government is considering shifting Dunedin Hospital away from Great King St. A “long list” of site options for the $300 million hospital rebuild includes shifting “all hospital facilities” to a different part of the city. While there has long been speculation about another site, the possibility was revealed in a press statement from the Government-appointed rebuild group. Southern Partnership Group chairman Andrew Blair declined to release the long-list document to the Otago Daily Times, saying it was a “work in progress” … The list was written by consultants, the Ministry of Health, the Southern District Health Board and the partnership group.
Read more

[click to enlarge]
google-earth-wakari-hospital-context-2016-mapgoogle-earth-wakari-hospital-3d-2016Google Earth – Wakari Hospital 2016

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If the public hospital was to move from the CBD…..
IMPACTS include:

● Reduced Inner City Vibrancy
● Less Easy Repore and Connection with University of Otago Health Sciences, including Schools of Medicine and Dentistry
● Less Opportunity for NEW Complementary Business Activity/Support in CBD
● Loss of existing Complementary Business Activity and Support in CBD
● Potentially, (ahem) MORE carparks available in the CBD !!
● Distance/Isolation Problem for Hospital patients, their families and supports
● Distance/Isolation Problem for Hospital shift staff between their place of work, homes and CBD
Etc Etc.

THE NEWS

ACC given 12-month exclusive due diligence period with view to buying Frederick St Carpark to build multi-storey building. DCC reneged on previous undertaking to earmark site for Dunedin Hospital redevelopment.

15.12.16
ODT: Councillors ‘railroaded’ into carpark decision
Dunedin city councillors were “railroaded” into their decision about the Frederick St car park, and given inadequate information about the risk of pulling out, Cr Lee Vandervis says. Cr Vandervis has taken issue with the Dunedin City Council for presenting the decision last week as “unanimous”, and the council has admitted that was wrong. […] The discussion and decision were held behind closed doors, and councillors were prevented from speaking publicly. Two councillors – Andrew Whiley and Damian Newell – were informally reprimanded for speaking to the Otago Daily Times about the deal. Cont/

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University of Otago Chief Operating Officer Stephen Willis says proposed ACC building in the middle of area envisaged for health and education precinct. “You’ve got the two book-end anchor institutes and then you bring another one right in the middle that has nothing really to do with health, education, or research.”

11.12.16
ODT: DCC’s ACC building deal criticised
Reneging on an undertaking to earmark a strategic piece of land for the Dunedin Hospital rebuild has undermined the city’s two leading institutions, former Dunedin City councillor Hilary Calvert says. Ms Calvert has criticised the decision to give the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) an exclusive 12-month period to explore options for the Frederick St car park. The council had earlier said it would earmark the site for the health precinct envisaged by the University of Otago. The precinct depends on  Government decisions on the $300 million hospital rebuild, which will not be made until 2018. Cont/

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8.12.16
ODT: Council backs off land deal
The Dunedin City Council has backed out of its undertaking to allow the Frederick St car park to be used for the $300 million redevelopment of Dunedin Hospital. Instead, the site has been promised to the Accident Compensation Corporation, which is considering consolidating its operations to a proposed multi-storey building there. “That was then,” Mayor Dave Cull said of the council’s change of heart since October when it said the land was earmarked for the hospital. […] ACC has a significant presence in the city, with about 430 roles across the three sites. Cont/

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15.11.16
ODT: Upgrade on hold till land swap clearer
A planned $8.1 million refurbishment of Hayward College has been postponed because the residential hall might be part of a land-swap with the Southern District Health Board so the area can be used for the Dunedin Hospital rebuild. Yesterday, the University of Otago confirmed it had put off the refurbishment until next year so that it does not go ahead while the Frederick St building’s future is unclear. Cont/

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“We are aware that it might be important, and that’s why we’re having discussions with them to make sure that we don’t do anything that rules out any use for the site.” –Sue Bidrose, DCC

15.10.16
ODT: Health precinct mooted
Dunedin Hospital could be partly rebuilt on land owned by the University of Otago and become part of a university health precinct under a potential land swap. The university has confirmed it is willing to consider a land swap, whereby it  would own the clinical services building. The Dunedin City Council confirmed it has earmarked the Frederick St car park as a potential part of the plan. The university owns land in the Fraser building block, and on two other sides of the hospital campus. If approved by the Government, it could remove the logistical headache of building on a cramped clinical site. The first business case will go to the Cabinet next year, followed by a detailed one in 2018. Cont/

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11.2.16
ODT: Green light for $8m cycleways
Construction could begin this year on Dunedin’s $8 million separated cycleways along the city’s one-way system. The New Zealand Transport Agency, which will fund the work, has signed off on a detailed business case setting out the need and basic design of the cycleways. They will be separated from traffic by concrete kerbing and will run along the right-hand side of both the northbound and southbound one-way routes. […] While car parking issues were a potential negative, business owners along the route had offered clever and positive ideas about how those problems could be minimised. Converting the council’s Frederick St car park to a multistorey facility was also “on our radar”, Cr Wilson said. Cont/

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22.4.14
ODT: DCC mulls Frederick St development
A multi-storey development housing parking and businesses is being considered for the Dunedin City Council-owned Frederick St car park site. A report sent to councillors this week reveals council staff have already had discussions with several parties interested, as tenants or developers, in a development on the site. The report discusses three options for a separated cycle lane through the central city, and a parking study done in the area. It also considers possible ways to mitigate the potential loss of car parks – the major public concern about any new lanes – including possibly providing more commercial parking, such as a parking building. If the council chooses to provide about 100 extra parks on side streets as suggested, the total number of car parks lost to the lane would range from between 80 and 284 under the various options. Cont/

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20.6.12
ODT: Council seeks $15 million portfolio boost
The Dunedin City Council is sitting on a half-billion-dollar property empire, but the man charged with managing it has big plans to expand … [City Property manager Robert Clark] was appointed to his post in late 2008 … Mr Clark was eyeing several potential projects in Dunedin, including a partnership with an interested private developer to build a $15 million hotel and car-park complex, or one of several variations, on the council’s Dowling St car park. Other plans included an $8 million four-storey car park and retail complex on the existing Frederick St car park. Neither project had been signed off by councillors, but both were expected to be considered later this year, with a possibility one, but not both, would proceed. Cont/

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

24 Comments

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SDHB #FAILS with Healthcare Communication and Governance

randy-glasbergen-2000-glasbergen-com-via-funnyandhumorous-com[glasbergen.com]

“I read it in the paper — all the information I’m getting is from the ODT. Management doesn’t talk to us, really.” –Prof Jean-Claude Theis

### ODT Online Mon, 7 Nov 2016
Patients turned away
By Eileen Goodwin
Nearly a third of orthopaedic patients referred for a first specialist assessment are being turned away from Dunedin Hospital, and the situation is becoming “untenable”, orthopaedic surgeon Prof Jean-Claude Theis says. The Dunedin School of Medicine professor of orthopaedic surgery  said the relationship with Southern DHB management had become “very bad”. Orthopaedic surgeons were not consulted about a recent decision to outsource 129 surgeries. Prof Theis had not known about the outsourcing until an Otago Daily Times story a little over a week ago. […] “With management, we’re not getting anywhere. There’s no engagement. There’s no clinical governance any more, across the hospital.”
Read more

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Locum ophthalmologist Dr Peter Haddad last week blasted the SDHB for keeping quiet, calling the decision “grossly unethical”.

### ODT Online Mon, 7 Nov 2016
ODT: SDHB wanted ‘free and frank’ debate
By Eileen Goodwin
The need for “free and frank” debate among Southern District Health Board bosses meant they kept quiet about the growing ophthalmology waiting list and cases of patient harm. The issue was not discussed in hospital directorate reports presented at public committee meetings since May, when those meetings resumed. […] The board notified patients less than two weeks before the release of the annual national adverse events report, later this week, in which patient-harm cases have to be disclosed. It will show 30 cases of harm from ophthalmology delays in 2015-16. There is likely to be more recent cases not included in the report …. [Interim chief executive Chris Fleming] admitted patients should have been told sooner. In an interview last week, Mr Fleming argued the situation was in part “good news”.
Read more

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the-most-common-hospital-surgical-procedure-today-inkcinct-com-au[inkcinct.com]

Sun, 6 Nov 2016
ODT: Petition started about hospital rebuild
Frustration with what she sees as lack of progress on the rebuilding of Dunedin Hospital’s clinical services block has prompted a Dunedin woman to circulate a petition she wants people to send direct to the Prime Minister or National MPs. Those who sign will “pledge not to support the National Party in the next general election unless we have an officially approved blueprint from the Government, acceptable to staff at the hospital and the medical school, to rebuild the clinical services block at the Dunedin Hospital by November 2017”. Cont/

Sat, 5 Nov 2016
ODT: Mental health petition delivered to Parliament
Dunedin mental health campaigners delivered a petition to Parliament this week calling for a nationwide inquiry. The Life Matters Suicide Prevention Trust collected 1740 signatures. Chairwoman Corinda Taylor, with Denise Kent, presented the petition to Maori Party co-leader Marama Fox on the steps of Parliament on Wednesday. “The petition respectfully requests the House of Representatives to conduct a nationwide inquiry into mental health services to determine if current services meet the demand and if future planning is adequate to meet future demand.” Cont/

Fri, 4 Nov 2016
ODT: SDHB conduct ‘unethical’
Not telling patients sooner that they risked permanent sight loss from delayed hospital appointments was “grossly unethical”, says an eye doctor who last year warned the board about the problem. In response, the Southern District Health Board admitted yesterday it should have told patients earlier. More than 4600 patients have been notified they are overdue for their ophthalmology appointment. In the past two years, 34 patients have lost part of their sight permanently, and that number is likely to increase. Cont/

Thu, 3 Nov 2016
ODT Editorial: Eye off the ball?
OPINION The latest revelations around ophthalmology pressures at the Southern District Health Board are confronting, and the problems are only part of the iceberg nationally. Earlier this week, this newspaper reported patients were going partially blind while they waited for SDHB appointments. […] Fixing or managing problems can prevent issues compounding, and alleviate financial and physical pressures on the health system further down the line. […] Commissioner Kathy Grant has said she has confidence in SDHB medical oversight and governance, yet the problem is such that the board is prepared for more cases of harm to emerge and has notified more than 4600 patients they have been identified as being overdue for appointments. Cont/

Wed, 2 Nov 2016
ODT: Ministry of Health ‘ducking’
The Ministry of Health has been accused of “ducking responsibility” on the hospital eye appointment “disaster”. The ophthalmology pressures at the Southern District Health Board have caused some patients to go partially blind while waiting for an appointment. The senior doctors’ union and the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists say problems highlighted in the SDHB are widespread throughout New Zealand. Cont/

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“The problem has been exacerbated by the state of our information systems not being able to clearly identify this issue.” –Commissioner Kathy Grant

Wed, 2 Nov 2016
ODT: Grant stands behind Southern DHB
Commissioner Kathy Grant declined to be interviewed yesterday about the patient harm cluster in ophthalmology, but says she has confidence in Southern District Health Board medical oversight and governance. In a statement, Mrs Grant said she was told about Dunedin Hospital’s ophthalmology waiting list problem in the middle of this year. This week the board revealed 30 patients suffered partial sight loss in 2015-16 because of overdue appointments, on top of a group of four patients the year before. Six of the 30 have a “severe” degree of loss. […] The board has admitted it is not on top of the situation in Dunedin, and more cases of harm may emerge. More than 4600 affected patients have been notified. Cont/

2.11.16 ODT: Eye clinic treatment lists blow out

Sun, 30 Oct 2016
ODT: Extra orthopaedic operations sought
The Southern District Health Board is trying to find an external provider for an extra 129 orthopaedic surgery cases in a bid to meet a national health target. A request for proposal issued last week on a government website says SDHB would fund up to 129 extra orthopaedic procedures in 2016-17 in order to achieve a national health target. […] Orthopaedic surgery waiting times have been a source of tension between DHB management and orthopaedic surgeons. Surgeons have lobbied for more operations, and have suggested southern orthopaedic patients need to be more debilitated than in other parts of the country before qualifying for surgery. Cont/

Sat, 29 Oct 2016
ODT: Doctors’ strike caused hundreds of postponements
The Southern District Health Board has released new figures showing the impact of the junior doctors’ strike. Fifty-two patients had a procedure postponed and 725 outpatients had a hospital appointment postponed. Another 52 patients were not booked for an appointment or procedure once the strike notice was received, the board told the Otago Daily Times yesterday. Cont/

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