The government's plans to radically reform the health service in England represent the biggest shake up of the NHS since it was established in 1948.

The NHS national plan includes proposals to:

• Cut hospital waiting times to just three months for outpatients and six months for inpatients by 2005
• Expand cancer screening programmes to cover more patients and more cancers

  Shorter A&E waits promised

• Further cut waiting times for patients needing cardiac surgery - plus rapid access chest pain clinics across the country by 2003
• Guarantee surgery within 28 days for patients whose operations are cancelled for non-medical reasons by 2002
• Allow patients to be able to have a GP appointment within 48 hours by 2004
• Provide 7,500 more consultants, 2,000 new GPs, 20,000 more nurses and over 6,500 extra health professionals
• Create 7,000 extra hospital beds and 100 new hospital schemes between 2000 and 2010
• Provide an extra �900 million to develop intermediate care by 2003/4 to allow patients to recover
• Make medical nursing care in nursing homes free - but personal care will not be paid for by the state

  Bearing fruit: free for infant school pupils

• Create new roles and responsibilities and better training for NHS nurses, midwives, therapists and other NHS staff
• Foster an agreement between the NHS and the private sector for using private facilities
• Create a national independent panel to advise on major hospital changes, such as closures
• Offer a free NHS retirement health check
• Community Health Councils to be replaced by a Patient Advocacy Liaison Services, which will include patient representatives on Trust boards
• Create a new Care Direct Service.
• Merge budgets for social services and the NHS

  Screen test: screening for more types of cancer

• Create 1,000 specialist GPs taking referrals from fellow GPs
• Provide 335 mental health teams to provide an immediate response to crises
• Bring in changes for NHS doctors including new consultants' contract, and new quality based contracts for GPs
• A NHS Modernisation Agency and a National Performance Fund to implement changes
• Create a one-stop out-of-hours service by 2004