Monday, August 19, 2013
www.guardianonline.co.nz
Ashburton Guardian 5
HEALTH
Loss of clinic a pain for district BY SUSAN SANDYS
SUSAN.S@THEGUARDIAN.CO.NZ
Ashburton needs specialist services to back up general practice, says town GP and former Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) member Dr Chris Ryan. Dr Ryan believes that returning such services to the town is more important than establishing a privately-run family integrated health centre at the hospital site, a current focus of the CDHB. Dr Ryan’s concerns on a lack of specialist services at Ashbur-
ton Hospital have been backed up by other GPs. Ashburton Hospital lost emergency surgery and emergency caesarean services in 2010, and it no longer has anaesthetists after three positions based at the hospital were disestablished at the end of last year. At the same time it lost a pain clinic, run by one of the anaesthetists. Commenting on the loss of the pain clinic, Mid Canterbury GP spokesperson Rachael Norman said not all patients referred for such treatment could
travel to the next closest facility at Burwood, where there was a long waiting list. “It’s a lot for someone not that well, some of the pain problems make it difficult tor travel, three hours of travel in a car,” Dr Norman said. She had patients on her books who had been referred to the pain clinic at Burwood but had been unable to travel there, missed out on it altogether. People accessing pain clinic services are referred by their GP. The clinics offer a multidisci-
plinary approach, teaching patients how to manage their pain, and they can involve services such as social workers, clinical psychologists, and rehabilitation workers. Dr Norman agreed with Dr Ryan that losing emergency surgery and emergency caesarean services was equally a concern, and they were services she could not see returning to the hospital. Dr Ryan said generally family integrated health centres were established in small towns which once had surgical ser-
vices. Many had failed and there had been none that had solved GP shortages. “The evidence is there that it won’t work to help the GP shortage, so why are they doing it?” Dr Ryan said. The CDHB is proposing a privately-run integrated family health service be established at Ashburton Hospital. It would lease land on a long-term basis to the service. The CDHB was unable to respond to the Guardian by Friday.
DEATH
Chilean man falls to death BY HAMISH MCNEILLY A Chilean man plunged to his death after taking a photograph in Milford Sound. The 19-year-old, who had been working as a seasonal worker in Milford Sound, joined two friends to climb a track above the 161m high Bowen Falls about 5.30pm on Saturday. “It is believed that one of the members of the party was taking photographs when he slipped and fell some distance to the base of the falls,” said Acting Senior Sergeant David Kennelly, of Invercargill. His friends tried unsuccessfully to locate him, before rushing to raise the alarm at the nearby Milford village. Emergency services, including the Milford Emergency Response Team, searched the area in the dark for the man. The man’s body was located in the water near the base of the falls around 6.30pm and was flown by helicopter to Te Anau. The Chilean Embassy had been advised, and his name is expected to be released once next of kin have been notified. Acting Senior Sergeant Kennelly said the death was being treated as an accident and had been referred to the coroner. - APNZ
PHOTO JOSEPH JOHNSON 180813-JJ-006
Junior production taking shape A junior production featuring more than 60 Ashburton youngsters is starting to take shape. The Mid Canterbury Children’s Theatre group production of Alad-
din Junior had its ninth rehearsal yesterday, where the cast, ranging from 7-17, worked to remember their lines and songs in the lead-up to October 4. Director Claire Bubb
has been meeting with the cast three times a week, with Caleb Livingstone, playing Aladdin (left) and Gabrielle Stringer, as Genie, (right) set to play the lead roles.
View or purchase photos online guardianonline.co.nz
New way to fight obesity uncovered A new way to fight obesity may have been uncovered by New Zealand scientists, who have discovered a gene that links the immune system with obesity. Researchers from The University of Auckland found the gene plays a vital part in the
cell’s immuno-metabolic reaction. This connects the immune response to infection with cell metabolism. This led researchers to investigate connections between the traditionally distinct disciplines of immunity and metabolism, in
a field of research termed ‘immunometabolism’. “We can use this to find drugs that regulate or target this new pathway in the fight against obesity,” said Professor Phil Crosier from the university’s Department of Molecular Medicine
and Pathology. The research used live imaging within transparent zebrafish embryos to uncover a new mechanism - the discovered gene - that controls immune cell function and helps regulate fatty acids. - APNZ