A woman with a life-threatening spinal tumour was told by staff she was just stressed and needed to take a "long holiday".

The 21 winners of Auckland's health board elections will be required to induce GPs to check more patients' hearts and offer more help to quit smoking.

At the 75th anniversary of social security, the system needs improvements, writes Margaret McClure.

The shattered family of Casey Nathan, who died hours after giving birth to son Kymani, are coping with the tragedy.

Mothers of sick children are offered more meals per day at public hospitals in Auckland than in Hamilton, and whether a mother is breastfeeding plays a lesser role or none at all.

A woman has been denied accident cover after she was told her workplace injury was the result of childbirth - despite giving birth 37 years ago.

The Government has agreed to post full audit reports of rest homes online - but will take them down again after a six-month trial if people don't bother reading them.

The number of emergency department patients being seen on time has slipped at the Waikato District Health Board.

A "life-changing" new drug designed to treat the hepatitis C virus can almost treble the cure rate for patients, studies have shown.

Few hospitals are meeting government benchmarks for emergency department treatment, with many urgent cases not being seen by a doctor within recommended times.

The son of a Kiwi mother is recovering from the radiotherapy which he finally underwent despite her fears, with no signs of cancer on his last scan.

Young Jimi Samuels changed remarkably after he had a battery-powered device surgically inserted to treat a problem with his heartbeat.

A 90-year-old woman was sent home from hospital at 1.30am - with a drip attachment still in her arm - in what her family say was a traumatic discharge.

A dialysis patient is refusing medical treatment until issues with an Auckland taxi company, which transports patients to and from their appointments, are sorted.

A school principal is considering lodging a complaint with the Medical Council after a boy was accidentally given a Gardisal injection.

Health experts want to target boys from the age of 11 who identify as gay to be first for vaccinating against genital warts and a range of cancers.

Charging $3 for a 20-minute hospital visit is profiting from people's suffering, says Scott McGill.

Heavy users of a group of pain medicines prescribed to nearly 400,000 New Zealanders a year have been warned about its links to an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Northland doctor Lance O'Sullivan says his upbringing helped drive his efforts to lift the quality of healthcare for Maori.

Given most of this food is high in sugar, fat and salt, it is another milestone on the march to our collective doom, writes Gareth Morgan and Geoff Simmons.

When Tristan Cosio started school a fortnight ago he was ready and prepped. New school bag? Yes. New lunch box? You bet. Ministry of Health B4 School Check? No.

Auckland health workers face the prospect of job losses as district health boards grapple with a tightening supply of money from the Government.

In an unprecedented peek behind the closed doors of NZ's hospital wards, a junior doctor reveals the delays, duplication and waste that she says are compromising the provision of good health care.

The mother of a 3-year-old boy with severe clubfoot is overwhelmed by the generosity of the community after her son received a new pair of winter pyjamas as part of an appeal.

Hundreds of health workers are being bitten, head-butted and assaulted while they look after sick, injured and distressed patients.

Tens of thousands of Aucklanders have had to wait longer than they should to see a doctor for serious injuries and illnesses at the region's emergency departments.

Julia Townsend gave birth to all three of her children by caesarean but wishes she had been able to deliver them all naturally.

Older mothers and women wanting more control of their lives are responsible for the growing rate of New Zealand children being born by caesarean section each year.

Research into infertility, healthy eating and the cause of allergies are among health studies to receive more than $58 million this year.