The death rate among patients admitted as emergencies at Basildon and Thurrock University Hospital was 40 per cent above the national average

Shocking death toll at flagship hospital

October: NHS trust is rated 'good' in glowing report by watchdog
Now: Catalogue of failings in care and hygiene is revealed

How can we choose a hospital if the ratings prove to be so wrong?

In China the belief that garlic can ward off swine flu has caused sales to sky-rocket

Forget gold and silver, invest in garlic

Thanks to a belief in its flu-repellent powers, garlic traders are on course to get stinking rich this year

More Asia News

Alan Bennett and the question of innocence

Johann Hari: In his new play, [Bennett] takes his dark analysis of pederasty further.

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Hacker loses final appeal against extradition to US

Home Secretary turns down Asperger's sufferer who broke into military computers.

More UK News

China sets ambitious target on emissions

Beijing announces it will cut rate of carbon output growth by 40 per cent

Michael McCarthy: A vital initiative Beijing had to take

India may hold whip hand in this power game

Robert Fisk: The biggest merchants in Dubai are Indian and they stand to gain as the emirate falters.

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Pay rise for peers – no receipts required

Lords to be given £200 for every day they attend the chamber – up from £161.50

Dubai debt shock knocks £14bn off bank shares

Britain is in the front line as fears grow over exposure to the Gulf emirate's financial problems. Sarah Arnott reports on a day that sent global stock markets reeling.

Liverpool snub rivals' plan to share new ground

Everton's hopes of moving to a bigger stadium are dealt a second heavy blow inside a week

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Pandora: Presidential seal for Stella – kidswear, that is

When Stella McCartney launched her recent collaboration with the American chain Gap – a range of children's wear for those aged 0 to 12 – the fashion world responded with appropriate enthusiasm.

Ways to say goodbye

Chris Mugan: Corinne Bailey Rae's new album is suffused with sorrow over the death of her husband. Vini Reilly has recorded apaean to Factory Records legend Tony Wilson. The pain of bereavement can be heard in music.

Traders 'panic' as LSE hit by double whammy

London Stock Exchange goes down in midst of sell-off sparked by Dubai

Unlocking the origins of the universe

After 10 years – and £6bn – the first particles finally smash into each other in the Large Hadron Collider.

BBC admits plan to scale back website

Corporation likely to rein in operations across TV, radio and internet

The 'bycatch' downed by industrial fishing

Concern is growing about the huge number of seabirds being killed by fisheries in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said yesterday.