Health system to get preventative upgrade

Free screening for stroke, diabetes, heart and kidney disease is to be introduced over the next three years under plans for the National Health Service unveiled by Prime Minister Gordon Brown yesterday.

Diagnostic procedures such as blood screening, electrocardiograms and ultrasound will become available in family doctor surgeries rather than hospitals in a drive to promote preventative health care.

"Over time everyone in Britain will have access to the right preventative health check-up," Brown will say in a speech marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the NHS.