The measures include greater powers for nurses to order tests and administer intra-venous drugs.

They will also be able to re-enter the profession more quickly after a career break, perhaps in eight weeks or less.

Cutting hospital red tape will mean nurses can concentrate on delivering good, high quality patient care

Rosie Wilkinson, Royal College of Nursing

New ways to ease a patient's journey through hospital are also identified in a Cabinet Office report.

Some GPs will be able to refer patients needing X-rays directly to radiography departments rather than sending them to queue in A&E.

A pilot scheme is being tested at three locations in the UK.

Another idea is to allow High Street opticians to refer patients directly to eye hospitals rather than to a GP. The move is designed to reduce paperwork and speed up diagnosis times.

The report, 'Making a Difference: Reducing Burdens in Hospitals', was put together by the Cabinet Office, working with the Department of Health (DoH).

A team visited 37 hospitals and consulted nearly 250 health service staff over the course of 9 months.

Nurses, doctors, and other front line workers identified 40 problem areas which would free up staff time to focus on patient care and hospital standards.

'Practical measures'

Launching the report, Lord Hunt, Minister of Health, said: "This report brings together practical measures suggested by front line staff across the country.

"A ward sister from the South East with 15 years experience explained how she could save four to five hours per week if medical notes were better organised and indexed as a matter of course."

Rosie Wilkinson of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is a member of the advisory panel.

"The RCN welcomes this report," she told BBC News Online.

"Speedier re-registrations and cutting hospital red tape will mean nurses can concentrate on delivering good, high quality patient care."