Ministry of Health

The national breast-screening programme's independent advisory group seems unlikely to formally discuss recent screening controversies until July.

The Court of Appeal has thrown out an appeal by the Ministry of Health regarding payments for parents who care for their disabled children.

By working together, five South Island district health boards have saved $12 million so far this financial year, the South Island Health Alliance has announced.

The honeymoon appears well and truly over between the senior doctors' union and Health Minister Tony Ryall.

A Ministry of Health investigation has cleared the Southern District Health Board's breast-screening programme of concerns its rate of "false negatives" was unacceptably high.

The Ministry of Health is finalising its "initial investigation" into possible delays in breast-cancer diagnosis at Southern District Health Board, and expects to have a clearer picture next week, a ministry statement says.

People who may have forgotten they gave consent for their newborn baby's blood spots to be used in research after screening for metabolic disorders will not be contacted to see if they are still happy with that decision.

Concerns have been raised in an independent report, and by experts and providers, about the sustainability of a national breast-screening service. Elspeth McLean reports.

Has New Zealand's health watchdog lost its bark, asks Stuart McLennan.

Ambulances have not met urban response time targets since 2007 because of increased demand, crowded roads, and new housing developments, a Government report says.