Stories by Karen Brown

Family doctors are starting to drop the 'first come first served' approach to appointments and screen patients by phone instead to make sure the most unwell get priority.

A rare case of potentially fatal diphtheria has been detected in Canterbury, in the finger of a traveller who had been in Samoa.

The Health Ministry is strongly defending a decision to exclude people in their 50s from the rollout of national screening for bowel cancer, writes Karen Brown.

High lead levels, mainly from exhaust fumes, in New Zealand cities during the 1970s and 1980s appear to have led to a loss of intelligence in adults, researchers say. Audio

New Zealanders are being promised early access to clinical trials for a ground-breaking new method of destroying cancer.

Researchers are calling for more data on community health, with one study revealing widespread unmet health needs and another showing large numbers of surgery patients being turned away. Audio

Children's oral health in his area has deteriorated following the removal of fluoride from its water, a dentist has told a select committee.

A woman died soon after discovering she had lung cancer that had spread and that a hospital doctor had failed to follow it up.

DHBs signed a junior doctor roster deal to avoid further strikes and do not believe it will fix fatigue, a spokesperson says.

Free doctors' visits for children under 13 have led to a big increase in the numbers visiting their local GP.

At least 25 adult mental health patients a month are having to move out of hospital overnight in Christchurch because of a bed shortage.

A bitter industrial dispute between junior doctors and their employers cost at least $5 million.

Junior doctors appear to have come out on top in a bitter and long-running row with their employers over safe rosters. Audio

Two companies being sued over leaky copper pipes at Wellington Hospital are seeking to stop the legal action.

New leaks are still being discovered in copper piping throughout Wellington Hospital, MPs have been told.

Wellington schoolgirl Nicole Thornton wants a law change so people with Crohn's and Colitis can use workplace toilets when they cannot find a public loo. Video

Some hospitals already carry out screenings on newborns, but others don't. Researchers are now looking at the feasibility of introducing the practice across the country.

Outspoken - A leading patient advocate, who has pancreatic cancer, is calling for more continuity of the carers who help those with a terminal illness. Audio

Health researchers say people watching televised sport, including children, are exposed to large amounts of alcohol advertising.

Senior doctors are calling out their bosses for getting bigger pay rises than staff.

The Health Ministry is providing up to $2 million to help improve eye services that specialists say are at crisis point.

A woman needed urgent surgery within days of being sent home by an optometrist who failed to examine her eye properly.

Obesity is responsible for one in 10 cases of bowel cancer in this country, public health researchers say.

People with rare health disorders are urging MPs to consider whether extra funding is needed for potentially costly medicines.

A woman in her early 50s needed six operations after keyhole surgery went wrong, damaging her bowel and bladder.