Health & Wellbeing

Hospice South's volunteer team has been recognised with a Minister of Health Volunteer Award, taking out the Community NGO category at a ceremony held at Parliament. The award acknowledges the contribution of more than 400 volunteers who collectively provided over 46,500 hours of service in the past

Parents in Invercargill and across New Zealand will soon have easier and cheaper access to treatment for their children's common health conditions, with community pharmacists set to offer expanded services from June. Health Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced the proposal, which aims to

Health New Zealand is reviewing healthcare delivery on Stewart Island after a survey revealed serious concerns about the cost and difficulty of accessing medical care. The island has been without its own GP for at least a decade, relying instead on a nurse practitioner and two clinical nurse specialists based

Health New Zealand has axed hundreds of old websites in a major consolidation effort, claiming savings of more than $21 million. The national health agency inherited 344 websites when it replaced the country's 20 district health boards in 2022. These included condition-specific sites like "death docs"

Strong demand for specialist dementia care in Southland has seen Enliven Southland’s expanded Iona dementia unit reach full capacity within its first year, underlining the urgent need for more psychogeriatric beds across the region. The six additional beds, introduced in March last year, were quickly taken up. Within the

Two new labrador puppies from Invercargill have recently joined the K9 Medical Detection bowel cancer detection squad. Each puppy costs $85,000 to raise from 8 weeks to 12 months when they are ready to start cancer odour detection work. The Invercargill Licensing Trust (ILT) is one of the southern

Health services across New Zealand are set for a significant shift, with decision making moving closer to local communities from 1 July. The changes are being welcomed by Invercargill MP Penny Simmonds, who says they will help ensure healthcare better reflects the needs of regions such as Southland. Under the

The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 has been released today, delivering an independent account of the pandemic response and its lasting impact on New Zealanders, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. "New Zealanders lived through one of the most significant global public health and economic