Stories by Karen Brown

A new system being adopted today is expected to prevent fake doctors from practising in this country. Audio

A 78-year-old man who broke his hip at home had to wait for four days for an operation at Waikato Hospital in 2013.

A burnout "crisis" in the medical profession has led to the World Medical Association moving towards protecting doctors' own health in the millennia-old Hippocratic Oath. Audio

The mental health watchdog says the level of nursing care provided to a man in a psychiatric inpatient unit was unacceptable.

Pharmacists say a lack of funding is preventing them from providing vital blood tests in the community for thousands of people.

Analysis - Canterbury's health service is under pressure to slash millions from its deficit. So why are its executives giving their British counterparts advice? RNZ Health correspondent Karen Brown re…

Slashing the number of DHBs by up to three quarters would improve New Zealanders' care, a visiting health policy expert says. Audio

A 62-year-old man died at home in his bed 17-and-a-half hours after being sent home from a hospital emergency department.

More than 9500 people are having to wait significantly longer than intended for follow-up eye care, with fears some could lose their vision.

Wellington's district health board is not filling dozens of vacant positions for specialist doctors, senior doctors are warning.

School vaccination rates in the first year of a free scheme are higher than expected, raising cancer prevention hopes.

A Nelson man with liver cancer suffered weeks of agony after being refused pain relief because he was a recovering drug addict.

The public health system is over-stretched and some people need help to get answers to serious problems more quickly, a Whakatāne surgeon says.

A psychiatrist and the Southern District Health Board have been criticised over the care of a woman who was found dead at home.

An outbreak of mumps in Auckland has spread to Dunedin, which is experiencing its first outbreak of the disease in years.

Doctors want the Health Ministry to stop demanding deficit cuts at Canterbury District Health Board, saying it cannot be done without cutting services. Audio

A 73-year-old man deteriorated and died after delays in the provision of care at a Northland public hospital in 2014.

Flu rates are still well below average for winter and doctors say the worst is over, despite hospitals being hit with a particularly harsh strain and other illnesses.

Thousands of children are being re-admitted to hospital every year because of poor living conditions, a child health specialist says.

The family of a 27-year-old who died after being tied to a bed for 10 days in a Japanese psychiatric ward say his care was an abuse of human rights.

Canterbury surgeons are so worried about rising bowel cancer among young people that they're running free clinics to check symptoms. Audio

A new study shows that the prices New Zealand pays for medicines are among the lowest in the world.

Insufficient beds and violence are common in secure units for intellectually disabled people who have committed crimes, senior psychiatrists say. Audio

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman has launched a new strategy to lift the low rate of organ donation from people who have died.

A Hamilton mother whose daughter nearly died of chicken pox is welcoming a free vaccine being rolled out, and says people should take the disease more seriously.