How paying for your treatment would help save the NHS

‘Free at the point of use’ has had its day. Other European countries use health insurance without the poor suffering, so why can’t we?

How do I … keep the doctor at bay?

The cost of running the health service has ballooned, so here are some ideas – beyond paying your taxes – to keep it fighting fit

What a US company could teach the NHS about an ageing population

British GPs take note – medical centres in Florida are ditching the one-size-fits-all model and specialising in elderly care, reducing hospital time while saving money

‘No one looks at the whole of me,’ my mum says. How the NHS is breaking apart

Her local hospital was once state of the art, but now it creaks, with over-full wards and over-worked staff

How dieting will get personal – and much more effective

Project analysing people’s gut bacteria and determining which foods cause a spike in their blood sugar levels is paving the way for tailor-made diets

Fitness monitoring: gimmick or game-changer for the NHS?

Many people now gather data about their own bodies on personal trackers, but the jury is still out on their accuracy and effectiveness

Cirrhosis: how dangerous is drinking?

Most of us who drink alcohol won’t die from liver disease – but it still kills more of us than diabetes and road deaths combined

This is the NHS: a day in the life of the UK’s busiest maternity centre

For the next month, the Guardian is telling the story of one of the most complex organisations in the world, through the voices of those on the frontline. On Thursday, we reported live from Liverpool Women’s hospital

The secret sexual health doctor’s diary: ‘The waiting room is bursting at the seams’

A registrar working in a sexual health clinic offers a snapshot of her working week, from advising a 16-year-old girl with a newborn baby to introducing baffled students to the vaginal ring

The day the NHS saved my life: my baby was born in our bathroom

Without the 30 or so health professionals who helped when my overdue daughter arrived suddenly, we might both have died