More than 200 new 'super-nurses' are to be appointed as part of the government's plans to modernise the NHS.

An additional 219 nurse consultant posts are being created in England, health minister Lord Hunt has confirmed.

These senior nurses can take on many of the roles previously reserved for doctors, including prescribing drugs and running their own clinics.

They can command salaries of over �40,000 a year.

The announcement means a doubling of the number of consultant nurses working in hospitals and health centres across the country.

In addition to the consultant posts, thousands of places are to be made available on a new clinical leadership programme to allow experienced nurses to enhance their skills.

Lord Hunt said: "We need leaders who are willing to embrace and drive through the radical transformation in services that the NHS requires."

Doctor shortage

The move comes at the same time as GP leaders are insisting that much of the government's NHS Plan will be unworkable because of a shortage of doctors.

Much of the strategy for the future of the NHS centres on increasing the power of nurses so that the demand for qualified doctors will not be so high.

Launching the scheme, Lord Hunt said that "We simply cannot deliver this level of change without changes to the way we develop and sustain leaders in this service."

Consultant nurses have extensive experience and qualifications in their specialist area and are often able to independently diagnose and treat certain groups of patients.