The details of a Memorandum of Understanding for a joint paediatric oncology service were established at a meeting today of key clinicians and managers of Capital and Coast District Health Board and Canterbury District Health Board.
 

Fewer people requiring acute (urgent) surgery at Christchurch Hospital does not automatically translate into greater capacity for the Canterbury District Health Board to do more elective (planned) surgery...
 

Representatives from Canterbury pharmacies, the Pharmacy Guild and the Canterbury District Health Board met on Wednesday to discuss the additional “pharmacy charge” being made by some pharmacies in the Canterbury region.
 

Ten years ago, South Island patients needing life-saving heart surgery had to travel all the way to Dunedin for treatment. Today, Christchurch Hospital’s Cardiothoracic Surgery Unit is considered an Australasian leader
 

Christchurch Hospital Paediatric staff will be swapping ward rounds for canoeing on the Avon River in fancy dress when the department holds its Annual Paediatric Boat Race this Friday 7 December.
 

Cantabrians can recognise this World AIDS Day by visiting the North Quadrangle of the Arts Centre from 12 noon to 1pm, Saturday 1 December.
 

Children at Woolston School will be learning to blend, wriggle and grow, thanks to receiving $3,600 from the Ministry of Health’s Nutrition Fund.

Once again Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) will be supporting White Ribbon Day on 25 November to back the International Day’s stand against violence towards women.
 

Two new resources have been produced to assist parents to register with the organisations that provide free health checks for newborns to five year olds and to help them decide which one is best for them and their child.
 

Cantabrians now have their very own source of reliable, locally relevant information about pandemic influenza, thanks to a new Canterbury District Health Board website.
 

Appetite For Life, a six-week programme run by the Canterbury District Health Board for women who are motivated to make lifestyle changes, will be rolled out to the wider community after a successful pilot.
 

Patients needing acute surgical admission to Christchurch Hospital are to be fast tracked through to a new unit which aims to ensure they are treated more quickly.
 

Christchurch City Council’s monitoring of potential sewage contaminants along the New Brighton coastline has detected norovirus in shellfish above the health safety limit.
 

A recent Tobacco Controlled Purchase Operation carried out by CDHB’s Community
and Public Health division has led to four retailers being prosecuted for selling
cigarettes to an underage volunteer.
 

The Canterbury District Health Board’s Women’s Health service is celebrating another Quality Health Accreditation award. It is the third time since the service’s first successful audit in July 2000 that it has received the award.
 

New Zealanders have risen to the challenge and raised over NZ$1million in just eight weeks for sick children. The funds raised through the first ever Fresh Future Appeal will go towards paediatric care in dedicated children’s wards...
 

The Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) Quality Strategic Plan 2007-2010 is set to further improve health and disability services for the people of Canterbury.

Encourage kids to tuck into veggies, is the message for Cantabrians this World Food Day (16 October). According to the National Children’s Nutrition Survey many children are not eating enough vegetables every day. 
 

Anyone with vomiting, nausea and diarrhoea, requiring medical assistance, should phone their GP or After Hours medical centre before visiting them or coming to Christchurch Hospital’s Emergency Department.
 

A telephone peer support service for people who experience mental illness was launched on Monday by ComCare Trust, as the agency celebrated 20 years of providing services for Canterbury people with serious mental illness.
 

Lincoln Maternity Hospital is turning 80 and to celebrate the hospital is having an open day on Wednesday 10 October from 10am – 2pm.
 

A year after introducing its healthy food policy, the Canterbury District Health Board is dispensing almost two tonnes less of sugar from its sites - and that’s just by phasing out sugary drinks from vending machines.
 

The Canterbury District Health Board wholeheartedly refutes Tony Ryall’s comments today that fewer First Specialist Assessments being done by the Board in 2006/07 than 2000/01 equates to less access to surgery in Canterbury.
 

Ashburton’s new mothers can rest assured they are getting the best in breastfeeding support now that Ashburton Hospital has achieved Baby Friendly Hospital accreditation.
 

Canterbury District Health Board is marking National Social Workers Day tomorrow with a professional development morning that will be attended by about 100 of the region’s social workers.
 

Rangiora Hospital’s Birthing Unit is celebrating all the babies born there over the last year, with an afternoon tea and open day on Thursday 27 September from 2.30pm until 4pm.
 

A community mental health initiative set up by the Rural Canterbury Primary Health Organisation (PHO) is this year’s supreme winner at the Canterbury District Health Board’s (CDHB) Quality and Innovation Awards.
 

Fifteen projects will vie for the top prize at this year’s CDHB Quality and Innovation Awards, which will be held at the Canterbury Horticultural Centre this Wednesday, 19 September.
 

CDHB Letter to Director General of Health Regarding the Nurses and Midwives MECA Settlement.
 

Canterbury District Health Board nursing management are heading to the United Kingdom later this month on a recruitment drive, with the aim of enticing about 60 nurses to the CDHB.
 

The Canterbury District Health Board voted today to spend $4.84 million on reconfiguring and extending Christchurch Hospital’s Emergency Department.
 

The Canterbury District Health Board voted today to progress with the demolition of the old Christchurch Women's Hospital buildings, given that they will be of no practical use in the future.
 

The Canterbury District Heath Board (CDHB) is working to help Cantabrians understand the charges they should pay for prescriptions.
 

The Ministry of Health recently acknowledged Canterbury’s unique regional requirements by granting additional funding to Canterbury District Health Board’s (CDHB) Paediatric Therapy team. 
 

Canterbury people, who are ready for hip and knee replacements, are now receiving a surgeon’s assessment and their operation all within six months, thanks to increased capacity and resources at Burwood Hospital’s new Surgical Services Unit. 
 

Thirty one new Resident Medical Officers (RMOs) from the UK and Ireland were recently welcomed with a powhiri to the Canterbury District Health Board.
 

Public health nutritionist, Bronwen King, is taking her healthy eating message to the nation with appearances on TV One’s Good Morning show.
 

Undergraduate nurses in Christchurch are set to benefit from a new model of teaching that combines all the best aspects of clinical training with more consistent support and guidance.
 

The Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) is supporting ‘World Breastfeeding Week’ (1 – 8 August) by inviting women and babies to the “Big Latch On”.
 

LEAP-IT, a national online clinical tool designed to co-ordinate the long term assessment of young cancer survivors, has won a national award for IT excellence.
 

An overwhelming majority of premises refused to sell cigarettes to people under the age of 18 in recent Canterbury District Health Board monitoring checks on Christchurch tobacco retailers.
 

Almost 500 people have undergone orthopaedic surgery at Burwood Hospital’s $21.5 million Surgical Services Unit since it opened three months ago.
 

Canterbury District Health Board and the Nurse Maude Association are working closely together to find alternative dementia facilities for residents of the Lady Rhodes Ward, following the Association’s recent decision to end its specialist dementia care contract with the CDHB.
 

Breastfeeding gives babies the best start in life, according to Canterbury DHB’s Community and Public Health team.
 

Carolyn Gullery has been appointed to the role of General Manager Planning and Funding at the Canterbury District Health Board.
 

A Christchurch surgeon has been awarded a special fellowship that recognises the contribution leading surgeons from throughout the world have made to their fields.
 

Smirting (smoking and flirting) is one of the worst ways to pick up a partner, according to the Canterbury DHB’s Community and Public Health team.
 

The CDHB’s Hauora Matauraka Aukati Kaipaipa (Smoking Cessation) team are celebrating World Smokefree Day on Thursday by holding an event to recognise the achievements of clients who have quit smoking and to encourage those who are yet to give up.
 

Canterbury District Health Board’s radiology department has successfully completed an accreditation process that shows the service it is providing is of an international standard.
 

Three local agencies are working together to make the coming winter as healthy as possible for older people in Canterbury. The “Winter Warmth Project for Older People” is the focus of an inter-agency partnership between Age Concern Canterbury, Community Energy Action and Canterbury District Health Board.
 

Burwood Spinal Unit patients and their families are set to benefit from a new $130,000 playground and garden outside the unit.
 

Canterbury is strongly represented in this year’s New Zealand Health Innovation Awards (HIA), with six out of 22 finalists coming from the region.
 

Dr Karleen Edwards, Planning and Funding General Manager and Deputy CEO at Canterbury DHB, has resigned to take up the role of Chief Executive, Central Northern Adelaide Health Service (South Australia). 
 

The Canterbury District Health Board is implementing a new food preparation system where meals are prepared at the Hillmorton site in bulk before being rapidly chilled and transported to other Christchurch hospitals.
 

I would like to publicly thank Canterbury District Health Board staff, particularly those in the Emergency Department, for the dedication and professionalism that they showed in responding to the many injured party goers that arrived at Christchurch Hospital on Saturday night.
 

The Canterbury District Health Board is funding a new service which will see community support workers working with elderly people in their homes to help them resume daily activities.
 

The Canterbury District Health Board will commission an external investigation into the tragic death of Coalgate man, Dean Carroll, 25, who died on Saturday 14 April.
 

Canterbury District Health Board is one of seven DHBs to have been issued strike notices by the union representing Medical Radiation Technologists (MRTs), who perform X-rays, CT, MRI and ultrasound scans.
 

Staff at Canterbury District Health Board’s Community & Public Health Division have identified the source of the norovirus outbreak which has affected more than 90 people at the Australasian under-17 Junior Badminton Championships at Cowles Stadium in Christchurch.
 

Canterbury Medical Officer of Health Dr Alistair Humphrey says the illness that has affected more than 80 people at a badminton tournament in Christchurch “has all the characteristics” of norovirus.
 

Canterbury District Health Board is one of 16 DHBs that have received a notice of strike action from the New Zealand Medical Laboratory Workers Union.
 

The Minister of Health Pete Hodgson has praised Canterbury DHB for leading the way in New Zealand in improving patient flow through hospitals.
 

An additional 975 surgery patients will be treated in the next four months by Canterbury District Health Board as a result of an extra $3.2 million in government funding provided to the Board this financial year and a further $1 million allocated to elective services by the CDHB.  The first of these operations will be performed this month
 

A key step people can take to prepare for an influenza pandemic is to get to know their neighbours and talk about how they would work together if it occurred.
 

The public are invited to an open day at Burwood Hospital on Sunday 18 March, 1pm -4pm, to see the Hospital’s new Surgical Services Unit.
 

Canterbury Medical Officer of Health, Dr Mel Brieseman is warning businesses and the public that water filters in equipment such as office-style water coolers need to be changed regularly to prevent the build up of a variety of bacteria including legionella.   
 

Changes in the management of Canterbury District Health Board’s Specialist Mental Health Service were announced to staff today.
 

The Canterbury District Health Board will hold two consultation hui on its proposed Maori Health Plan later this month.
The proposed five-year plan will be presented at two hui, to be held on 15 March and 27 March, at the Hagley Netball Centre in South Hagley Park.
 

The Canterbury District Health Board is on target to field one of the largest teams in the City 2 Surf with Pump later this month.
About 350 staff have so far registered for the event on 25 March and it is hoped numbers will reach 500.
 

People are being reminded not to drink the water or swim in Te Wairewa/Lake Forsyth because continuing high levels of algal bloom in the lake could harm their health.
 

The Canterbury District Health Board would like to re-iterate that norovirus is prevalent in the community at the moment and this has been reflected in the recent outbreak at Christchurch Hospital and The Princess Margaret Hospital.
 

With the prevalence of Norovirus in the community, the Canterbury District Health Board has some simple tips for the general public, tourist accommodation and food providers and anyone who is caring for the elderly or young.
 

Infection control precautions are being taken at The Princess Margaret Hospital, following positive identification of MRSA in two patients and one staff member on one ward.
 

Anyone with vomiting, nausea and diarrhoea, requiring medical assistance, should phone their GP or After Hours medical centre before visiting them or coming to Christchurch Hospital’s Emergency Department.
 

Canterbury District Health Board CEO Gordon Davies says he is confident that the CDHB will not have a budget deficit this year or in 2008.
His comment came today after media coverage claiming the Board would not be able to meet its 06/07 financial targets.
 

Norovirus has this week caused the closure of a ward at Christchurch Hospital and another at The Princess Margaret Hospital. No new patients are currently being admitted to these wards and family and friends are advised to visit only if essential.   Children are asked not to visit.
 

Urology outpatient clinics and support services are to be re-established at Ashburton Hospital. From March, a Christchurch-based urologist will visit Ashburton Hospital monthly for assessment and treatment of patients there. He or she will be supported by a dedicated urology nurse who will do initial investigations, assist with treatment and follow up patients in the community. 
 

Women and babies are still being well served at Christchurch Women’s Hospital and the rest of Canterbury’s birthing units despite a peak in the birth rate in the last couple of months that has kept all major New Zealand maternity hospitals very busy.
 

Ashburton Hospital Opts For Medical Officer Workforce

Medical staffing at Ashburton Hospital will be more stable from the end of February thanks to an initiative replacing House Surgeons with more senior medical practitioners known as Medical Officers.
 

This month children are returning to school, which means it’s time for parents to start thinking about putting nutritious and safe snacks into lunchboxes.
 

Radiation Therapists Strike Ends

Canterbury Radiation Therapists, belonging to the APEX Union, ended their three day strike at 7.50am this morning.
Strike action will however be taken by Union members everyday during lunch hours until 26 January, unless negotiations between the Union and District Health Boards are successful.