60% of NHS trusts admit care failings
Self-assessment reveals widespread inability to meet basic standards.
New payment rules ‘threaten NHS operations’
The five specialist orthopaedic hospitals in England may have to abandon complex surgery on hips and bones because of a bizarre twist in the government's rules to turn the NHS into a competitive market.
Hewitt pledges £700m for new network of community hospitals
The health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, will commit at least £700m to invest in a network of community hospitals to provide patients with scans and chemotherapy closer to home.
Foreign nurses barred in attempt to help homegrown candidates
Thousands of international nurses are to be banned from working in the UK to improve the chances of homegrown candidates getting a job, the government has announced.
How a tobacco farm in Kent could provide a life-saving drug for millions
· Genetic tweak allows HIV drug to be harvested · Environmentalists fear cross-contamination
Cigarette ban planned for 16-year-olds
· Minister wants rise in legal age for buying tobacco· Tougher sanctions on shopkeepers proposed