Nurses will now be stationed at 111 emergency call centres to answer "non-urgent" calls as part of a wide-ranging shakeup which may also give nurses operating national helplines access to patient records.

The Health Minister has dismissed all members of the Southern District Health Board and replaced them with a commissioner.

Four nurses have been caught cutting off callers inappropriately at Healthline, the Ministry of Health-funded national telephone service for health advice.

Death rates from general anaesthesia and some of the most common surgeries have been revealed.

A mistake by a surgeon during a brain operation caused a "catastrophic bleed", which led to a woman's death, a coroner has ruled.

Year-on-year figures show the number of people hospitalised with pneumonia has consistently increased each year since 2005.

A national programme to address rural depression will be developed in recognition of challenging times for farmers including volatility in milk prices.

A teenager in an induced coma in Wellington will be administered medicinal cannabis after Government approval on compassionate grounds.

Undercover surveillance of tanning salons has found nearly half failed to implement key safety checks, a new study shows.

South Auckland is to have a new facility built for patients suffering acute mental illness, at a cost of $53.6 million.

New study suggests Kiwi men diagnosed with prostate cancer die sooner than those in Britain, and part of the reason may be poorly organised treatment.

An investigation concluded his surgeon had operated “without reasonable care and skill” after an elderly man died from complications of blood loss.

A second healthcare worker who recently returned from Sierra Leone has tested negative for the Ebola virus.

A second New Zealand healthcare worker is being tested for the Ebola virus after returning from West Africa.

The Asian rate reached 62 per 1000 women aged 15 to 44 in 2012, ahead of the European and other group on 57.

Been bitten by a venomous snake, nipped by a deadly spider or are suffering the unpleasant symptoms of cyanide poisoning?

The Kiwi nurse who sparked New Zealand's first Ebola scare is relieved to be home.

With more children coming to school hungry, a scientific study will for the first time guage the impact nutrition — or lack of it — has on learning.

Over 70 per cent of elite college rugby players regularly use sports supplements, making them more likely to intentionally dope in the future, a survey finds.

The bad guys are always one step ahead. That was the reality with party pills and it is much the same with illicit fitness supplements.

An exercise supplement containing a banned psychoactive substance was still available for sale yesterday despite Ministry of Health officials deciding it should be pulled from shelves.

The supplement salesman who won't lie about pre-workouts: "They have stupidly toxic amounts of caffeine. It drives you mental so you train like a crackhead."

Herald investigation shows makers of pre-workout supplements are always trying new tricks to beat government bans.

Watch our undercover investigation: Pre-gym supplement Frenzy found to contain unsafe psychoactive substance that's chemically related to ingredient of party pills.

Two investigations are under way after botched home circumcisions resulted in 10 boys being taken to hospital - one of whom required surgical treatment.