New NHS guidelines on doctors and nurses with HIV will change lives

The NHS used to impose restrictions on the jobs HIV-positive doctors and nurses could do. Leo Benedictus meets two nurses who will benefit from new guidelines that allow them to work anywhere they choose

The 40-week pregnancy myth has popped

Viv Groskop: We now know pregnancy can vary by up to five weeks – so why aren't 'overdue' mothers given more information?

Why the NHS must not go back to the bad old days of exhausted doctors

David Cameron believes European working legislation interferes with the way we run our hospitals. But a return to 80-hour shifts would be deadly

NHS 111: ‘We’ll call you back’

Michele Hanson: The health service's non-emergency helpline has never been much help to the people I know who've called it

How do I know if my local hospital is any good?

Luisa Dillner: Scared by reports of chaos in the NHS? Find out where to get a true picture of your hospital

Breastfeeding figures fall as NHS budget is cut

Lack of support for new mothers in England leads to first drop in breastfeeding for nearly a decade, say midwives

Board game aims to get young people talking about health issues

Zones encourages young people to work together to discuss issues and find answers to teen health topics, writes Jo Arden

A sick man ponders the etiquette of short-term illness

Dean Burnett: The appropriate response to contracting a short-term illness is becoming increasingly confusing

Maternity wards close 1,000 times a year to expectant mothers, figures show

Shortage of midwives and beds resulting in women being forced to travel up to 65 miles to other wards or to give birth at home

E-cigarettes: health revolution or fresh pack of trouble?

Smokers who want to stub out the habit are turning in their millions to electronic cigarettes. But how safe is 'vaping' from them – and does it lead to tobacco use anyhow?