Michael Searles
Michael Searles reports on the pressure points in the health system, connecting health policy, workforce decisions and individual patient stories to show where care and safety are at risk.
He is Deputy Health Editor at The Telegraph, covering health policy, medical breakthroughs and NHS scandals. His work ranges from daily news lines to longer investigations into how institutions respond when care goes wrong and where policy choices leave gaps in protection. He has been recognised in industry lists including the Press Awards’ 30 under 30 and MHP’s 30 to watch.
NHS workforce and patient safety
A recurring strand in Searles’s coverage is the strain on the NHS workforce and the impact of staffing decisions on patient safety. He reports on Britain’s reliance on foreign doctors and nurses, detailing how the UK has twice as many overseas clinicians as the Western average and what that means for resilience and recruitment.
He follows similar dynamics in dentistry, covering plans for the health service to hire more foreign dentists to clear treatment backlogs.
His reporting tracks industrial disputes and morale, including consultants threatening to join striking doctors and arguments that the British Medical Association is driving junior doctors towards the Health Secretary. He examines the rise of non-doctor roles in primary care, highlighting data that most GP appointments no longer involve a doctor and raising concerns from GPs who say they are being replaced while many sit at home without work. He also reflects doctors’ accounts that hospital whistleblowers who raise patient safety concerns are silenced or pushed into employment tribunals where the odds are stacked against them.
Across these pieces, Searles links workforce policy to outcomes, using official statistics and frontline testimony to show how staffing models, industrial relations and recruitment strategies translate into patient experience and risk.
Screening, prevention and unequal risk
Searles devotes sustained attention to screening and preventive care, often focusing on groups at higher risk.
He covers prostate cancer screening trials designed to prioritise black men, setting out why this group faces elevated risk and how targeted screening could change outcomes. He follows through on campaigns around prostate testing, reporting on the Prime Minister urging men to come forward for tests in response to a Telegraph initiative.
His prevention beat extends to infectious disease in older patients, where he reports calls for doctors to take infections in elderly people more seriously and explores how missed or under-treated infections contribute to avoidable harm. He also covers post-pandemic mental health and body image, using referral data to show that the number of patients seeking treatment for body dysmorphia has quadrupled since Covid.
Taken together, these stories show a focus on how screening, early intervention and public health messaging can shift risk for specific groups rather than the population in general.
Meningitis outbreaks and vaccination policy
Meningitis is another area where Searles links clinical risk, outbreak investigation and vaccination decisions. He reports on mutant meningitis strains behind regional outbreaks, explaining how changes in the bacteria complicate diagnosis and response. He examines policy questions around whether teenagers should be vaccinated against meningitis, balancing epidemiological data, expert opinion and concerns from parents.
His coverage includes university meningitis B outbreaks and the decision to offer vaccines to students, setting these developments within wider debates on how quickly the health system should move from outbreak response to routine immunisation. In these pieces he shows an ability to translate complex vaccine policy and strain evolution into clear narratives about risk, protection and the trade-offs facing public health authorities.
Ethics, addiction and pressure points in care
Searles also reports on ethical controversies and public health crises that sit at the edges of mainstream health coverage. He has covered record-high drug-related deaths involving opioids and cocaine, drawing on official statistics to show how fatalities have risen and where services are struggling to respond.
He writes about a Journal of Medical Ethics article that defends female genital mutilation, unpacking the arguments and the backlash from clinicians and campaigners who see it as undermining efforts to protect women and girls.
These stories sit alongside his broader work on patient safety scandals and institutional responses, reinforcing a through-line of interest in cases where vulnerable people face heightened risk and existing systems fail to protect them. Across his beat, Searles uses data, case studies and policy detail to show how decisions made in clinics, boardrooms and government departments shape outcomes for patients.
4 more health journalists.
Alan Booth
Alan Booth is distinctive for linking infectious disease, laboratory research and emerging health technologies rather than treating them as separate beats. He is a senior editor at Labmate-Online, where he covers outbreaks, vaccines, drug development, antimicrobial resistance, gene therapies and laboratory innovation. His reporting has examined tuberculosis, measles, cholera, influenza and malaria, including a major tuberculosis outbreak, vaccine and drug advances, and a malaria vaccine designed to block mosquito transmission. He has also written about antibiotic-resistant bacteria, new gene therapy centres and SinS Brighton 2025. Booth reports news, research updates, interviews and event coverage for a broad laboratory audience. He presents LabMatePod, discussing AMR, emerging pathogens, public health responses and scientific history. Across articles, interviews and podcasts, he connects laboratory findings with health policy and technology using clear, well-researched science communication.
Alex Storey
Alex Storey is a journalist at LBC whose work is driven by specific cases that test professional conduct and accountability in health and the public sector. He covers health as his main beat, focusing on the point where individual decisions by clinicians or officials meet public trust in institutions. His reporting is incident-first and case-led, using concrete episodes to show how rules, ethics and policy work in real life. Recent pieces include a disciplinary case where a nurse was struck off after linking a patient’s cancer to Covid jabs, and coverage of civil servants being “paid to play Grand Theft Auto” as “lived experience” training. Across these stories, he examines how professionals, regulators and officials explain their decisions, and what that reveals about trust, responsibility and the standards expected of people in positions of authority.
Alexandra Thompson
Alexandra Thompson is an assistant news editor focused on health who treats health claims as hypotheses to be tested rather than messages to be repeated. She works at New Scientist, combining editing with frontline reporting on ageing brains, cognitive health, chronic illness, contested treatments and infectious disease. Her beat centres on how neuroscience and psychology intersect with everyday health choices and on how scientific findings translate into real-world outcomes for people living with illness. She examines lifestyle advice, rehabilitation programmes and outbreak guidance against current evidence, clarifying risk without overstating it and giving space to controversy without sensationalising it. Alongside written news she appears in audio and video formats, bringing the same clear, news-driven approach to live discussions and helping shape the daily health agenda while keeping a tight focus on evidence and impact.
Alice Wilkinson
Alice Wilkinson investigates how everyday habits, products and routines shape sleep and long-term wellbeing, using test-driven health features to separate hype from real benefit. She holds a senior role on The Telegraph’s health features team, writing and shaping consumer-focused coverage that blends personal trial with clear expert evidence. Her core beat is sleep as a practical, solvable part of daily life, from detailed comparisons of magnesium supplements to service pieces on how sleeping position affects health over time. She treats supplements as a crowded, over-claimed market that demands careful testing and clear-eyed reporting. Alongside long-form features she writes weekly health desk dispatches on sleep, stress and concentration. Across her work she combines substantial self-testing, specialist insight and plain, unfussy prose to give readers measurable, realistic changes they can make.