The 4,000 "avoidable" errors last year, according to figures obtained by the Daily Mirror, "included surgeons operating on the wrong person or part of the body, doctors making wrong diagnoses and the prescription of dangerous doses of medication."

The Daily Mail reveals today that "Malnutrition killed more than 240 patients on NHS wards in 2007" and that "the number of men and women starving to death in hospitals has risen by 16 per cent since Labour came to power."

In this Sunday Telegraph article, the Professor of Health Policy at Imperial College makes six simple suggestions that in his personal view would improve Britain's very expensive but extremely flawed National Health Service, the NHS.

Telegraph reports that appalling standards of care have been exposed at Mid-Staffordshire Hospitals trust, where between 400 and 1,200 more patients died than would be expected in just three years, according to a damning report by the Healthcare Commission.

Chronic pain suffered by millions is not being taken seriously enough with specialist services remaining a 'cinderella and neglected area of healthcare', Chief Medical Officer, Professor Sir Liam Donaldson said.

The Telegraph reports that almost 500 patients have been crippled and injured so badly by NHS hospital care that they have received more than £1m each in compensation, landing the taxpayer with a bill for £1.2bn.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has praised the commitment to a 21st century healthcare service and the introduction of more choice for patients through the signing of a new NHS Constitution.

From this month - April 2008 - there will be a dramatic expansion of UK patient choice in the NHS.