Should medical herbalists be regulated? In 2011 new EU legislation will mean that many over the counter herbal remedies will no longer be available. From this point it will only be possible to get hold of products which are licensed and prescribed by authorised herbalists. The Government has launched a consultation into regulating the profession, but what will be the consequences if regulation of herbalists doesn’t happen? Guests: Dee Atkinson – Medical Herbalist and Director of Napiers Edzard Ernst – Professor of Complementary Medicine, Exeter University

Who will get new rights to free personal care? Andrew Harrap from Age Concern Help The Aged and James Lloyd from the Social Market Foundation analyse today’s announcement in the Queen’s Speech which that means testing for personal care provision will be scrapped for those with the most severe needs.

Independent review calls for change. The government today acknowledged that two thirds of the elderly people in England prescribed anti psychotic drugs for dementia derive no benefit from them at all. Henrietta Harrison reports Guest: Phil Hope, Care Services Minister

The latest news on the swine flu virus. If you have a seasonal flu vaccination you may already have been offered a swine flu jab. So should you take it? Guests: Professor David Salisbury, Director of Immunisation Programme in England Dr Pat Riordan, Director of Public Health at Berkshire East Primary Care Trust Nigel Dimmock, Professor of Virology at Warwick University

Did you know you can rate your GP online? The NHS Choices website has information on England’s 8,300 GP practices and, for the past two weeks, it has offered the chance to leave feedback and rate the service you receive. We hear the Patients Association’s concerns and a response from Health Minister Mike O’Brien MP

Who is in line to receive the vaccine first? The swine flu vaccine programme started in acute hospitals today. The NHS took delivery of the first batches of more than 400, 000 doses for front line staff. From Monday GPs surgeries across the UK will begin to receive their allocation, so who will be actually receiving the vaccine? Guest: Professor Peter Openshaw - Director of the Centre for Respiratory Infections at Imperial College in London

What needs to be done to encourage more donors? This week the Safer Medicines Trust (a patient safety charity which promotes human tissue testing to develop drugs) held a conference this week at the House of Lords to highlight the need for a national infrastructure to store and collect human tissue for research purposes. Winifred Robinson went along to find out more. GUESTS: Dr Bob Coleman DSc, advisor to the Safer Medicines Trust Professor Chris Foster, Professor of Cellular Pathology and Molecular Genetics, University of Liverpool

As we live longer but not necessarily more healthily in our twilight years, how can our care be paid for…whether it’s help at home for essentials like washing and dressing, or in a residential care home? So how can a balance be struck so that the state pays for care when people can’t fund it themselves…and the better off contribute some of the costs without being unfairly penalised? Each of the main political parties has begun to outline aspects of their policies in this area…and we’ll hear from all three of them over the next hour. Guests: Andy Burnham, Health Secretary; Andrew Lansley, Conservative Health spokesperson; Norman Lamb, Liberal Democrat spokesman.

Chris Danes has bipolar disorder and is keeping a regular audio diary of his experiences. In this first installment, Peter White went to meet him and discussed how the condition affects his life.

As part of our series dealing with the most serious food-related crises to have made an impact in Britain Simon Parkes tracks the story of E:coli 0157.

In the fifth and final part of our series examining the food crises which have occurred in recent years, Simon Parkes tracks the development of BSE and its impact on consumers and the food industry. Afterwards we ask how well protected are today’s consumers? How much confidence can we have in the safety of the food we eat?

There are swine flu stories in the papers every day and some have been about the limitations and side effects of tamiflu, the anti-viral drug.The makers of Tamiflu – Roche - say they are taking all of these reports seriously. The coverage may send some people to look for alternative or complementary remedies. Winifred Robinson takes a look at what's out there on the internet with You and Yours reporter, Melanie Abbott. Professor Ian Jones is a virologist at Reading University and considers how effective some of these remedies might be.

What do we know about swine flu so far and what do we need to know for the future? In the first in a series for the Autumn, we discuss the vaccination programme, contingency plans, and how A and E departments will cope.

Each Monday throughout August, we've been exploring the impact of recent food crises here in Britain, not only the events at the time of the particular scare but also the long-term changes in food policy that have tended to follow. Last week, Simon Parkes tracked the case of Sudan One, a dye normally found in boot polish, that ended up in a batch of chilli powder. Today Simon turns his attention to Listeria.

Can the 24-hour warden survive cutbacks in public spending? We hear from Joan Garbet in Eastbourne, who is waiting for a High Court judgement about the 24-hour hour warden at her housing association sheltered accommodation. She instigated legal action, arguing her contract had been broken when a retiring warden wasn’t replaced.. Guest: Geoffrey Cox, MP or Torridge and West Devon

Simon Parkes reports on the sometimes devastating effects of the bacterium e.coli; a germ that‘s widely present in the atmosphere and exists perfectly harmlessly in the digestive systems of both animals and people, e.coli can, however, cause serious stomach upsets, and some types such as the strain 0157 can be fatal.

"Most of the egg production in this country, sadly, is infected with salmonella". So said Edwina Currie in 1988, plunging the egg industry into crisis. Sales plummeted and 4 million hens were slaughtered. It has often been argued that Currie's comments were overblown and out of proportion, although they did throw light on a damaging situation. Simon Parks' food series is running every Monday throughout August. GUESTS: Edwina Currie, former health minister / Peter Barton, egg producer, Grassington Farm, North Chailey / Andrew Joret, Deputy Chair of British Egg Industry Council / Prof. Tom Humphrey, Veterinary School, University of Bristol

Has the government's response to the swine flu pandemic been the right one? We talk through the facts and figures with the Government’s Chief Medical Officer for England Sir Liam Donaldson and hear your experiences. Guests: Sir Liam Donaldson: Chief Medical Officer for England. Professor Steve Field: Chairman of the Royal College of GPs Petra Wilton: Director of Policy and Research, Chartered Management Institute

“Airlines to turn away ‘swine flu’ passengers – sneezing tourists will need a doctor’s note to fly”. That’s what the Times reported on Monday 20th July. So what’s the truth behind the headlines? Will British Airways and Virgin Atlantic prevent passengers from boarding if they are deemed unfit to fly? Guests: Paul Charles, Virgin Airlines Francis Tuke, ABTA – The Travel Association

Most of the seven UK deaths attributed to swine flu have been people with “underlying health conditions”. We ask what these are and why reports don’t supply more detail.