Flu consultations are way below average this winter but health experts warn the worst could be yet to come.

Three intellectually disabled men are suing Govt for upwards of $100,000 each, alleging human rights abuses while in state care.

A petition for an autistic man held in an isolated wing of a mental health unit has garnered more than 2000 signatures in a day.

The family of an autistic man held in an isolated wing of a mental health unit have launched a petition calling for the minister of health to intervene in his case.

A Westport family had to take their elderly relative to Buller Hospital on Tuesday night because a St John ambulance couldn't come for 90 minutes.

The business case for the proposed national bowel screening programme was "poorly developed" according to a Treasury email.

The Ministry of Health has defended its stance on refusing to fund a Maori safe-sleeping device.

A Maori health target for sudden infant death was lowered by officials because it was too difficult to achieve. However, experts claim this is "laughable".

The Ministry of Health refuses to fund a simple sleeping pod for babies so they might more safely sleep alongside their mothers.

Fast-acting parents are thought to have curbed the spread of whooping cough from a Christchurch primary school.

Applications for a share of a new $7.9 million research fund to improve the treatment of conditions like diabetes and asthma have opened.

A leading human rights lawyer says the door is now "wide open" for Ashley Peacock to take health authorities to court

Associate health minister Sam Lotu-Iiga has been assured Ashley Peacock is 'being cared for in the best way possible'.

Intensive care doctors could be told if a dying person is an organ donor under proposed changes aimed at lifting donation rates in New Zealand.

Dr Murray Winiata has gone out on a limb to promote a controversial quit-smoking technique to his patients.

Patrick Wilson, aged 86, changed his GP - because the previous one didn't have a patient portal.

Medical experts are supporting of the Government's approach to prescribing cannabis-based products.

Patient portals are a secure, online way to help people manage and keep track of their health 24/7.

To demand "savings" from the country's district health boards is good economics but brave politics.

As world gambling experts gather in Auckland this week, the biggest threat on their minds is now online betting.

More pharmacists could end up prescribing medicines under Ministry of Health plans.

New documents reveal serious flaws in New Zealand's ability to contain an outbreak of Ebola or other deadly diseases.

A Ministry of Health email blunder has spilled private medical information of 24,000 Kiwis.

A major overhaul of how public health services are funded is being explored - with Health Minister Jonathan Coleman welcoming the radical proposals as "good for debate".

An inspection of Waikato District Health Board's mental health service has been announced following the arrest of a man working as a psychiatrist.

A report proposing that control of district health boards be removed from elected representatives has been down-played by Prime Minister John Key.

The Minister for Health says he has serious concerns after a health board staffer working as a psychiatrist was fired and arrested for possible identity fraud.

New Zealand ranks well down on the OECD's list of countries with the most hospital beds, but health officials say it's nothing to be concerned about.

Dr Judith Heather Gill, 58, appeared in Auckland District Court this week facing 157 charges of obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception.

An active ingredient in a cream used to treat head lice and scabies has been linked to causing cancer and will be withdrawn from sale in New Zealand.