British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, facing an election within months, set out plans to overhaul the health service, promising prompt access to cancer specialists and more one-to-one nursing.

Brown said he believed 10,000 lives could be saved through early detection of cancer -- referral to a specialist within two weeks of seeing a doctor, and a one-week guarantee for receiving the results of subsequent tests. He also said that as many as 10,000 heart attacks and strokes could be prevented each year by offering health checks for all over 40s via the state-funded National Health Service (NHS).

Both ruling Labour and the opposition Conservatives, who lead in opinion polls before an election due by June, have said they will ring-fence spending on health, leaving other departments to take the weight of deficit cutting.

Brown said he hoped that measures he was setting out could save 2 billion pounds in care costs over three years, money which he wants to use to fund one-to-one nursing for cancer patients.

‘Our plans to reform our community and primary care services will include a commitment to deliver over the next five years dedicated nursing for all cancer patients -- a commitment that we expect will benefit around 1.6 million patients, offering truly first class care, in their own homes,’ Brown said according to advance excerpts of a speech.

Opposition Conservative health spokesman Andrew Lansley accused Labour of cutting the amount the NHS spends on cancer patients by 650 pounds per head last year.

‘Also, Labour have promised this before and haven’t delivered.

As far back as 2003 they were promising that each patient would have a named nurse to coordinate their care for cancer,’ Lansley said in a statement. Pulling together a series of Labour health pledges from recent months, Brown said all patients would be offered hospital treatment within 18 weeks of seeing their doctor.

He also planned to allow patients to register with a GP open into evenings and weekends, rather than having to see their doctor during regular working hours.

REUTERS