A global charity will test children's eyes in low-income parts of New Zealand after an tests found 63 per cent of children at an Auckland primary school needed full examinations.

A maternity unit midwife held a partly born baby's umbilical cord to keep it warm during an emergency ambulance ride to hospital.

What does it take to save a baby's life? Suzanne McFadden traces the incredible story of a baby's will to live.

The healthcare sector was in the headlines this week with Abano Healthcare's profit announcement, a takeover offer for Acurity Health and Green Cross Health's annual meeting.

New Zealand health experts are making contingency plans to manage the ebola virus in case the deadly disease arrives from West Africa.

A flu vaccine expert is calling for new vaccines and strategies to combat influenza after her research group found New Zealand's current vaccine was poor protection.

Readers shared their experiences with Hospital food across the country after the Weekend Herald reported on planned cost-cutting measures.

An Auckland hospital has started putting off elective surgery after it was swamped with acutely unwell patients causing a shortage of beds.

The Government is falling short of key targets it set itself for reducing child abuse and rheumatic fever.

A US government laboratory mistakenly mixed a common flu strain with a dangerous and deadly type of bird flu and shipped it to another lab.

We take a look at 10 illnesses most people have probably never come across, according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD).

A fertility support group is calling for a change in government in vitro fertilisation funding so couples can get a third cycle free.

Starship's operating theatres have reached capacity and are no longer fully up to the job, say leaders of the children's hospital.

At first, Asisi Kaufusi's parents thought he had a cold.

Cancer was the leading cause of death in New Zealand in 2010, accounting for nearly a third of all deaths, writes Simon Sutcliffe. That's an increase of nearly 13 per cent between 2000 and 2010.

When Andrew Hedge comes to the aid of the sick and dying, a look of calm crosses the patient's face.

Mental health nurses are speaking out against brutal violence inflicted by their patients, including being punched, kicked, burnt and stabbed and choked.

A high number of people who suffer a heart attack leave hospital without all the information they need - putting them at risk of another.

Amputee Diane Smith has had 208 consultations at Auckland's state-owned artificial limb centre, yet none of the legs it has made for her has ever fitted properly.

An international search has begun for a researcher to delve into child and teenage mental health after Cure Kids received a multi-million-dollar private donation.

A plan to modernise the sharing of patient records nationwide between healthcare providers has passed an early check-up with an initial

A Hawke's Bay nurse who admitted professional misconduct for having a sexual relationship with one of his patients has had his registration cancelled

Hospital wards need to be redesigned to provide urgently needed defences against the spread of deadly, antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

Carmel Berry feels like she has been "sitting on a barbed wire fence" for almost a decade since having an operation to repair a prolapsed uterus.

A registered nurse looked up the medical records of her former husband's new partner more than 40 times.

A midwife who stopped monitoring a baby during birth against instruction from an obstetrician has been ordered to apologise to the infants mother over his death.