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… Coronavirus Health spending NHS staff

A&E pressures

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

NHS bureaucracy and efficiency

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

Cancer care

Fact checks about cancer risks, treatments and cures

Vaccines

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

Post claiming the Pfizer vaccine has only a 12% efficacy rate is inaccurate

17 May 2022

False claims circulating on social media about the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine are not based on newly published documents.

Facebook image promoting vaccine damage payments scheme is not an official government poster

13 May 2022

The poster includes a link to a genuine scheme, which has existed since before the pandemic, under which people severely disabled by vaccines can apply for £120,000.

Covid vaccines haven’t been mandated in the EU ‘under the radar’ under ‘Resolution 2361’

13 May 2022

A post on Facebook claims that the European Council has removed its objection to mandatory Covid-19 vaccines.

Coronavirus

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

GP 'crisis'

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

Health fact checks

Smallpox not the only infectious disease eradicated by humans

20 May 2022

While reporting on the rise of monkeypox, the Times said that smallpox is the only disease ever eradicated by humans. But there has been another—the cattle disease, rinderpest.

Most Britons are not projected to be obese by 2040

20 May 2022

While a Daily Express headline suggests otherwise, the proportion of Britons forecast to be obese or severely obese by 2040 is actually 36%.

Post claiming the Pfizer vaccine has only a 12% efficacy rate is inaccurate

17 May 2022

False claims circulating on social media about the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine are not based on newly published documents.

See all health fact checks

Health care systems

Fact checks related to the infrustructure of health care and potential impacts of privateistaton

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