‘I knew I was in labour’ – why are women being turned away from hospital during childbirth?

As a number of women recount how they were mistakenly told to go home and wait, before giving birth on the pavement or in a lift, experts warn that more investment in early-labour care is needed

My cancer operation was cancelled and I can’t sleep at night. Jeremy Hunt, how can you?

Why won’t Jeremy Hunt fight to get the NHS the funding it so desperately needs, asks Carly O’Neill

Mass closure of NHS walk-in centres is fuelling winter crisis, claim campaigners

Easy access to medical help for many denied after 40% of services shut

David Davis’s ignorance: now that’s what I call health and safety madness

Austerity has already driven a coach and horses through environmental standards – and we haven’t even got to the Brexit cliff edge yet, writes the Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

Why are Germany’s midwives feeling squeezed out?

Fewer midwives are attending to birth in the country, where insurance premiums are punitive and medical intervention is increasingly widespread. And it’s not only mothers who are missing their skills

See a GP on my smartphone? Sorry, I’m not convinced

A new scheme allowing patients to dial in for a virtual appointment has some advantages for some people – but it’s not for me, writes GP Ann Robinson

The truth about the US ‘opioid crisis’ – prescriptions aren’t the problem

The overdose crisis is driven by illicit use of drugs – not those given on prescription for patients in need, says neuroscientist and author Marc Lewis

To those who take antibiotics – the resistance crisis is not your fault

A new government campaign suggests patients are to blame for growing antimicrobial resistance. Let’s look at the real reasons, says health and science journalist Hannah Flynn

What to do if you’re a Londoner worried about gonorrhoea? Test yourself, apparently

The bodged handover from personal consultation is a money-saving exercise – when infection rates are rising in the capital, says sex and relationship broadcaster Nichi Hodgson

US-style abortion battles loom in UK amid claims of intimidation

As street tensions increase, pro-choice group says a London council must curb ‘harassment’ of women at Marie Stopes clinic