The Secret Doctor: people would use the NHS less if they knew the true price tags

A survey shows people vastly underestimate NHS costs. If they understood the real expenditure, they might use the service more responsibly

My wife’s £10,000 bill for cancer treatment makes me appreciate the NHS

Faced with the huge cost of vital healthcare in South Africa, I’ve realised how lucky we are to have the NHS in the UK. We must fight to protect it

How many people should watch you give birth? The crowdbirthing conundrum

Women in their teens and 20s have an average of eight people in the room during the course of giving birth, a survey suggests – it might work for some, but there are a few key questions to consider

Government delays publication of plans for reduction in UK’s sugar intake

Ministers accused of ‘deplorable complacency’ in tackling UK’s obesity problem after report they commissioned from Public Health England is shelved

Doctors demand a 20% tax on sugary drinks to fight UK obesity epidemic

BMA report says use money to subsidies fruit and vegetables, and demands regulatory action from taxation to clampdown on marketing to children

Public health cuts could cost NHS extra and cause more unplanned pregnancies

Experts say £200m spending reduction could saddle NHS with extra £250m on abortion and maternity services after government ignored calls to reconsider

Diabetes is at a record high because we’re fatter than ever. But what can be done?

The ‘eat less, do more’ advice, drug regimes and surgery for patients with type 2 diabetes have thus far proved unequal to the scale of this ever-growing menace

Tony Abbott’s boast of windfarm cuts contradicts earlier stand on renewables

Speaking to Sydney radio host Alan Jones, the prime minister took credit for cutting the growth of wind power, confirming a view many had long suspected

GP appointments are hard to get, say third of NHS patients in England

Difficulty seeing same doctor, booking online or obtaining evening appointments casts doubt on David Cameron’s aim of 8am-8pm seven-day GP access

The battle against childhood obesity has to start in pregnancy

Britain’s childhood obesity rate is, as Jeremy Hunt calls it, a scandal, but there has not been enough recognition of how early the problem begins