A South Auckland woman has admitted abducting a 5-day-old baby from Middlemore Hospital.

Norovirus, surgery for burns and trauma and the onset of "asthma weather" have combined to push one of Auckland's major hospitals beyond capacity.

An 87-year-old Auckland dementia patient's flight from a locked hospital ward has earned a nurse and the Waitemata District Health Board a rebuke from the country's leading health watchdog.

Thanks to the generosity of Herald readers, the Help Our Kids campaign for the Starship has ended on a high note, bringing in over $80,000 more than planned.

China's official Xinhua News Agency reported that six nurses and one caretaker were killed in a knife attack at a hospital in a northeastern resort town favoured by the country's Communist Party elite.

Two-year-old Southland liver transplant patient Elliott Gulliver has spent more than 100 nights in Starship, but her parents hope she may now be over the worst.

At 13, Celine Ceraudo started suffering disturbing symptoms which eventually put her in Starship.

Pies are expected to be cut from public menus at the Auckland District Health Board as officials try to make their hospitals into models of healthy eating and drinking.

Starship theatre staff are glad of the improvements in the first of their refurbished operating rooms - especially the new sound system.

A baby died in a water-birth, a mother bled to death after giving birth, and a mental health patient with motor-skills trouble choked on food and died.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman says three people arriving in NZ from West Africa have been cleared of Ebola after temperature monitoring.

All Black Keven Mealamu is not only a star on the rugby field - he has also made his mark in the realm of children's books, helping to illustrate a story that will help raise funds for Starship children's hospital.

When Sarah Morrell had operations to place screws, rods and plates into her bones at Starship, there was no way of treating the rare underlying genetic cause of her troubled skeleton.

Family of former patients and staff at Starship Children's Hospital spent yesterday afternoon laughing and reminiscing about their experiences.

You've done it. Herald readers have cracked the $150,000 target of the Help Our Kids campaign to raise money for Starship children's hospital.

Clinical head of infectious diseases says hospital has spent the past three months getting prepared in case an infected person turned up in New Zealand.

A 7-year-old boy who was bored while visiting his dad at Waikato Hospital started spending his own pocket money on activity packs for sick children but needs more help.

Riley Ross was born with heart defects that would have killed him had they not been detected in a pregnancy scan and later corrected at Starship, his mother says.

When four generations work together the differences are often seen as challenges and sources of tension.

"A huge thank-you to the thousands of Kiwis from all over the country, and even some abroad, who have helped so far," says Starship foundation chief.

Ten-year-old Elijah Amoah has spent more than a year in hospital being treated for leukaemia and the complications of its treatment.

Tara Helm was 16 when she had surgery at Starship to correct the abnormal curvature of her spine.

Lucy Lawless tweets her appreciation as donations for Help Our Kids campaign to raise money for Starship hospital pass the half-way mark.

John Key says Government takes threat "very seriously" as he announces new measures to prepare for suspected cases.

The woman accused of abducting a 5-day-old baby from Middlemore Hospital can now be named after she appeared in court today - her birthday.

Kayla Nield and her brother Bodee have had around 30 procedures between them at Starship's operating theatres to help them with a rare genetic condition.

There's a good chance Leighton Leevard wouldn't be the healthy and happy boy he is today if not for the staff at Starship.