Four Seasons

NHS 'on the mend but still in need of treatment'

Watchdog finds despite some progress, superbugs and poor access to family doctors are still big worries for health service

Good work but value must now be demanded

We should expect significant improvement from a service that has had its budget more than doubled since 1997

Earliest case of TB found in Neolithic skeleton

Israeli find shows infection 3,000 years older than thought and disproves notion that human TB emerged after bovine TB

NHS trust wants to spend £400,000 on a yacht

The vessel would sail with a crew of unemployed teenagers as part of a training programme to help them into work

NHS dentists accused of unnecessary check-ups

Dentists are calling patients back for routine appointments far sooner than they need to, claims a key Government adviser

Surgeons operate on wrong patient

Investigation is under way at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, West London, after surgeons operated on the wrong patient

Briefing: pensioner power

Don’t talk to us as if we are simpletons, say the elderly. It does more harm than you know

Girl, 13, given cancer vaccine ‘without consent’

Mother's claim that child received jab without consent sparks fresh row over mass vaccination of against cervical cancer

Motherhood boosts female brain power

Having a child can supercharge the female brain, leading to lifelong improvements in mental skills, researchers have found

Ministers to ban free drinks for women

Bars to be banned from offering free wine and beer tastings under new government restrictions to cut public drunkenness

Britain may back EU cattle test relaxing

Tough controls that protect consumers from human form of 'mad cow' disease may be lessened in Britain and across Europe

Harefield transplant deaths review

Heart transplants at Harefield Hospital are being reviewed after four people died within a month of surgery

Charities also hit by Iceland bank crisis

Naomi House charity in Hampshire for terminally ill children has emerged as latest victim of the Icelandic banking crisis

Health fears raised over energy-saving light bulbs

Certain types of fluorescent light bulbs may emit ultraviolet (UV) radiation that can harm the skin, new research suggests

Tough inspection regime offers care home hope

Sweeping changes being made to the regulation of care homes includes new complaints system aimed at raising standards

BBC to pay £½m costs in IVF libel case

BBC abandons claim that a Panoroma investigation into the country’s top fertility doctor constituted 'responsible journalism'

Controversial doctor tops live-birth league

Clinics run by Mohamed Taranissi had the highest success rate in Britain in 2006, according to latest official figures

Health fears about new e-cigarette

It contains no tobacco and is legal to smoke indoors, but experts warn that too little known about electronic cigarette

MPs launch fresh bid to ban smacking

Labour MPs have demanded a free vote on an amendment being tabled to the Children and Young Persons Bill

Scientists warn of spread of 12 deadly diseases

Ebola, cholera and plague among diseases identified as spreading across the planet because of climate change