Helen McArdle

Health Correspondent

Helen McArdle is the Health Correspondent for The Herald. She joined in 2008 and went on to become a news reporter and transport correspondent. Since 2020, her focus has been on the impact of the pandemic on the NHS. Ms McArdle’s journalism honours include News Story of the Year at the Medical Journalism Association awards and she was also named Health & Science Reporter of the Year at the British Journalism Awards in 2018 for The Herald’s coverage of NHS Tayside’s use of charity donations to cover general spending. She was named Specialist Reporter of the Year at the 2022 Scottish Press Awards and picked up the Stephen White Award for the Reporting of Science in a Non-Science Context at the Association for British Science Writers awards.

Helen McArdle is the Health Correspondent for The Herald. She joined in 2008 and went on to become a news reporter and transport correspondent. Since 2020, her focus has been on the impact of the pandemic on the NHS. Ms McArdle’s journalism honours include News Story of the Year at the Medical Journalism Association awards and she was also named Health & Science Reporter of the Year at the British Journalism Awards in 2018 for The Herald’s coverage of NHS Tayside’s use of charity donations to cover general spending. She was named Specialist Reporter of the Year at the 2022 Scottish Press Awards and picked up the Stephen White Award for the Reporting of Science in a Non-Science Context at the Association for British Science Writers awards.

Latest articles from Helen McArdle

Event to diagnose healthcare issues

he Herald Live: Health Summit will take place on Friday, April 5 where our expert panellists will highlight the many challenges faced by the Scottish health sector

Broken equipment and staff shortages: Behind Scotland's 'worst ever' cancer waits

Staff shortages, broken equipment, and rising referrals have been blamed as Scotland experienced its worst year on record for cancer waiting times. Campaigners warned that frontline staff are "working in crisis conditions" as statistics revealed that the NHS in Scotland has now missed the 31-day target for patients starting cancer treatment in five out of the past six quarters.

Watchdog apologises for failing to engage with whistleblowers over A&E patient harms

An NHS watchdog has apologised for "shortcomings" in its investigation into patient safety at one of Scotland's busiest A&E departments. Healthcare Improvement Scotland faced a backlash from medics at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow after it closed its probe without giving doctors an opportunity to share their concerns or evidence directly with officials.

GP who suggested 'friends with benefits' affair suspended for sexual harassment

A GP has been suspended for nine months after a tribunal found that he had sexually harassed a female colleague while already sanctioned for "failing to maintain a professional boundary" with a patient. Dr Sunil Kumar Sahu was working as a family doctor in Fife when he pestered the woman, known only as Ms A, for an affair and on another occasion suggested they could be "friends with benefits".

Cats vs Dogs: Blood pressure, stress, allergies - which pet is best for your health?

It is often said that there are two kinds of humans: dog people or cat people. Of course such binary definitions overlook the fact that many households enjoy the companionship of both pets, but the age-old argument is set to be thrashed out once again as the Edinburgh Science Festival prepares to host a 'Cats Versus Dogs' event on April 2.

Care home rated 'like lovely hotel' faces axe to ease council's £19m budget shortfall

Families campaigning to save a council-owned care home said to be "like a lovely hotel" have been left "distraught" after health chiefs recommended its closure ahead of a crunch vote. A report by by South Lanarkshire's director of health and social care, Professor Soumen Sengupta, said McClymont House in Lanark - together with Dewar House in Hamilton - should cease operating within seven months, with no new residents admitted.