Health secretary to investigate allegations of women denied epidurals

Matt Hancock ‘concerned’ by reports of pain relief refused during childbirth by NHS trusts

Dr Rachel Clarke: ‘Wrinkles, middle age, grey hairs… these are reasons to celebrate’

The palliative care doctor on her moving new memoir, Boris Johnson’s broken promises, and why the way we treat dying people should be the number one metric of a civilised society

How might A&E departments without targets work? Look to sexual health clinics

Accident and emergency makes the headlines. Meanwhile, under-reported services are collapsing through lack of funding, says the Guardian’s Polly Toynbee

Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas by Adam Kay review – more matchless stories from A&E

From the author of This Is Going to Hurt, funny, disgusting and moving tales with a festive twist – and a show of support for overworked NHS staff

How to save the NHS… by five bestselling medical memoirists

With medical memoirs now the hottest ticket in publishing, we asked five acclaimed authors for their views on the crisis in the NHS

First cannabis-based medicines approved for use on NHS

Charities welcome epilepsy and MS drugs but say thousands of people have been left in limbo

‘I didn’t know if he’d recover’: NHS staff on the patients they’ll never forget

From physios working with stroke survivors to radiographers identifying 7/7 victims, it isn’t just doctors and nurses who form bonds with patients

Ex-ballerina Deborah Bull: ‘I’ve found great strength in dancing and singing’

The former Royal Ballet principal on her leading role in a major study into how the arts can boost physical and mental health

Born sleeping: how I grieved for the much-loved daughter I lost before her birth

The loss of a baby at almost six months pregnant brought special challenges, including the trauma of giving birth – and it didn’t help that the subject is so rarely discussed

My tears as a junior doctor were a ‘flaw’ that, in psychiatry, became my greatest strength

I burnt out as a GP but in mental health I could take time with patients and, at last, make a difference