Get the facts on health

Fact checks about medical conditions, the NHS, social care and government funding of national health services

Get the facts on… Monkeypox Coronavirus Health spending

A&E pressures

Fact checks regarding Ambulance and A&E waiting lists and admissions

Monkeypox

Fact checks about the monkeypox outbreak, including symptoms, transmission, relation to other diseases and the latest information from public health bodies

NHS bureaucracy and efficiency

Fact checks about efficiency and inefficiency in the NHS and the outcomes of the Naylor review

Vaccines

Fact checks addressing conspiracy theories and unreliable health advice relating to the coronavirus pandemic

MPs' vaccine debate fact checked
10 November 2022

MPs Danny Kruger, Sir Christopher Chope and Andrew Bridgen all made claims about vaccines that need context.

Facebook post linking Covid-19 vaccines with report about cancer in the under-50s is misleading
28 October 2022

There is no evidence that the Covid-19 vaccines are causing cancer.

Claims that Pfizer vaccine wasn’t tested on preventing transmission need context
24 October 2022

Post-trial studies showed the Covid-19 vaccine offered some protection against transmission of early variants.

More fact checks on vaccines

Cancer care

Fact checks about cancer risks, treatments and cures

Coronavirus

Fact checks about the coronavirus pandemic, including causes, Covid-19 symptoms, vaccines and side effects

Health fact checks

No evidence radiation from AirPods is causing brain tumours
1 December 2022

Some scientists have expressed concern over the potential health effects of low-level radiation from mobile devices, but there’s no evidence wireless headphones like AirPods are causing brain tumours.

No evidence midazolam used to kill thousands of patients in April 2020
1 December 2022

It is not surprising that prescriptions of a palliative care drug used to make dying people more comfortable increased during one of the worst months of the pandemic.

PCR tests aren’t being used to clone humans
30 November 2022

There’s no evidence that Covid-19 PCR tests are being used to clone humans. A paper cited to support this theory explores the use of the PCR technique in gene cloning, …

See all health fact checks

GP 'crisis'

Fact checks about GP waiting lists, appointments, staffing and pharmacists

Health care systems

Fact checks related to the infrastructure of health care and potential impacts of privatisation

Health spending

Fact checks about increases and decreases in funding of the NHS, including the number of hospitals being built and record levels of funding

Health tourism

Fact checks related to the ineligible and foreign nationals using NHS services

How healthy are we?

Fact checks about life expectancy and the reporting of medical risks

Immigration and the NHS

Fact checks related to the impact a changing population has on the NHS

Is the NHS being privatised?

Fact checks regarding private finance initiatives and commercialisation and external funding of the NHS

Junior doctors

Fact checks covering the recruitment, pay and development of NHS junior doctors

Mental health

Fact checks covering mental health service provisioning, self harm, suicide, anxiety and depression

NHS performance and satisfaction

Fact checks about the reported quality of the NHS, waiting lists and quality of care

NHS pressures

Fact checks about waiting lists, unpaid overtime and availability of health care services

NHS performance and satisfaction

Fact checks about the reported quality of the NHS, waiting lists and quality of care

NHS staff

Fact checks including NHS staff levels and NHS pay

Safety

Fact checks about health and safety related topics, including food safety standards

The seven day NHS

Fact checks about the idea of a seven day NHS and changes in health care services at weekends

Social care

Fact checks including care homes and social care budgets and policies