diff --git a/app/imports/server/config/redisCaching.js b/app/imports/server/config/redisCaching.js
index 45132ac3..7ed21c26 100644
--- a/app/imports/server/config/redisCaching.js
+++ b/app/imports/server/config/redisCaching.js
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 import LibraryNodes from '/imports/api/library/LibraryNodes.js';
 
-LibraryNodes.startCaching();
+LibraryNodes.startCaching?.();
diff --git a/app/imports/server/rest/apiPublications/healthCheck.js b/app/imports/server/rest/apiPublications/healthCheck.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c6aa00a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/imports/server/rest/apiPublications/healthCheck.js
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+// A simple endpoint that does a single round trip to the database to check everything is working
+
+const HealthCheckCollection = new Mongo.Collection('healthCheck');
+
+// Don't use redis oplog optimization on this collection, we want to hit the database every time
+HealthCheckCollection.disableRedis?.();
+
+const healthCheckDoc = {
+  status: 'ok',
+};
+
+// Add the health check doc on startup if it's missing
+// There should only be this single doc in the collection
+// A capped collection would be marginally faster, but it's a pain to make one in Meteor
+Meteor.startup(function () {
+  if (!HealthCheckCollection.findOne()) {
+    HealthCheckCollection.insert(healthCheckDoc);
+  }
+});
+
+Meteor.method('api-status', function () {
+  let dbHealthDoc;
+  try {
+    dbHealthDoc = HealthCheckCollection.findOne();
+  } catch (e) {
+    this.setHttpStatusCode(503);
+  }
+  if (dbHealthDoc?.status === 'ok') {
+    this.setHttpStatusCode(200);
+  } else {
+    this.setHttpStatusCode(500);
+  }
+  return dbHealthDoc || {};
+}, {
+  httpMethod: 'GET',
+  url: 'api/status'
+});
diff --git a/app/imports/server/rest/apiPublications/index.js b/app/imports/server/rest/apiPublications/index.js
index 765d7988..e95d23db 100644
--- a/app/imports/server/rest/apiPublications/index.js
+++ b/app/imports/server/rest/apiPublications/index.js
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 import './creature.js';
+import './healthCheck.js';
diff --git a/app/package-lock.json b/app/package-lock.json
index dee36e3a..9fe1b74e 100644
--- a/app/package-lock.json
+++ b/app/package-lock.json
@@ -1917,7 +1917,7 @@
     "lodash.omit": {
       "version": "4.5.0",
       "resolved": "https://registry.npmjs.org/lodash.omit/-/lodash.omit-4.5.0.tgz",
-      "integrity": "sha1-brGa5aHuHdnfC5aeZs4Lf6MLXmA="
+      "integrity": "sha512-XeqSp49hNGmlkj2EJlfrQFIzQ6lXdNro9sddtQzcJY8QaoC2GO0DT7xaIokHeyM+mIT0mPMlPvkYzg2xCuHdZg=="
     },
     "lodash.template": {
       "version": "4.5.0",