Fourteen NHS Trusts were identified yesterday with higher than expected death rates. But Barking, Havering and Redbridge was not among them – its mortality rate was better than average.

Stroke victims are having to wait more than 24 hours for a brain scan because of "unacceptable variations" in the way hospitals operate, MPs have said.

The NHS needs to cut the number of hospitals and consultants, one of its former chief executives has said. Lord Crisp, who led the service under Tony Blair from 2000 to 2006, said a new "vision" is needed for it to improve. "They need to set out a vision for the NHS and I just don't think they've done it," he said.

A teenager was left paralysed from the waist down when a spinal anaesthetic was left in too long after a routine operation, a hospital has admitted.

A cannibal killer attacked a fellow patient at a high-security psychiatric hospital, telling staff afterwards that he "wanted to eat him", an inquest heard yesterday.

A teenage schoolgirl was left paralysed from the waist down when a spinal anaesthetic was left in too long after a routine operation, a hospital has admitted.

The Moors murderer Ian Brady is to be questioned by police after allegedly assaulting a nurse.

A 20-year-old man was shot in the chest early yesterday in West Norwood, south London.

The number of NHS trusts that believe they will face severe financial pressures next year has almost doubled, according to a new report.

The tale of Matthew Green is an inspiring one. The 40-year-old has been given an artificial heart by Papworth Hospital in Cambridge. This is the first time a British person has benefited from this medical technology.

Former Japan defender Naoki Matsuda collapsed on the pitch and was rushed to hospital on Tuesday after collapsing from suspected heat stroke during practice, local media reported.

A 40-year-old father has become the first person in the UK to receive a total artificial heart that will enable him to go home.

A vulnerable woman with learning disabilities who was moved out of Winterbourne View Hospital after the BBC's Panorama programme filmed residents being punched and humiliated had previously been mistreated at an NHS institution in Cornwall.

Police have named the fifth patient whose death at the hospital at the centre of sabotage allegations is being investigated by police.