Stories by Ruth Hill

One of the country's fastest growing regions - the Kāpiti Coast, north of Wellington - is losing its only remaining psychiatrist. Audio

Apitialefaga Robin Tuiletufuga works the overnight shift as a yarn spinner at Godfrey Hirst's carpet wool factory in Lower Hutt.

The Finance Minister says she "regrets" funding for extra cancer drugs was not possible in Budget 2024, despite it being promised during the election campaign.

Freeing up access for meds must be balanced with preventing drugs ending up on the black market, psychiatrists warn.

Some experts argue it's time to consider alternatives ways to pay for healthcare which could take politics out of it.

Democracy will be the "loser" if sweeping executive powers are granted to ministers under the new bill, the Chief Ombudsman warns.

She waited weeks to see a dermatologist in the public system.

Charlotte Gilmour suffered an extremely rare, near-fatal allergic reaction to a medicine and didn't know if she would ever recover.

Auckland University cancer epidemiologist Professor Mark Elwood says cancer death rates in both countries have gone down, but the differences have persisted.

A multi-million dollar budget boost for Pharmac will only keep the lights on, doctors and patient advocates warn.

Overworked GPs have signalled they can no longer cover, while funding is falling short. Audio

The mother of a transgender teenager says having her child come out at the age of eight let her and her family take "a deep collective breath".

People suffering debilitating and potentially life-threatening skin conditions are not getting the treatment they need in many regions due to the dire shortage of dermatologists.

The hormone drugs are under increasing scrutiny internationally, with Britain's National Health Service last month banning their routine use outside of clinical trials.

Up to 286 staff will now be dropped at MBIE, while the culture ministry has also announced cuts.

Puberty blockers, often given to young transgender people, are being restricted overseas due to issues around effectiveness and safety.

The staff, including hundreds of doctors, were allowed to work through the pandemic because services could not function without them.

Campaigners against youth vaping say the government is delaying child-safety measures to give the industry time to sell non-compliant products.

Five months on from the boy's death, no one has been charged and his family says the police updates have stopped coming.

"Not sick enough to get help" - That's the message many people struggling with debilitating depression and other mental problems are getting from the health system.

People who have suffered acute mental breakdowns fear the health system will not be ready to fill the gap when police withdraw from crisis callouts.

Pharmac announced it will continue blanket funding for all child cancer medicines but will not extend the funding to other medicines for children.

A chronically-ill woman suspects some doctors are reluctant to enrol her, as new research shows some clinics to cherry-pick healthy patients.

About half of all clinics are "cream-skimming" patients to enrol, new research has found.

Maya says she has been left traumatised by the indifferent care she received: "They treated me like I wasn't worth their time because my baby was going to die."