Community diagnostic centres aim to treat patients more quickly, closer to home and without relying on hospitals.

They will provide up to half a million extra appointments each year, officials say.

And where appropriate, GPs will be able to refer patients directly to these centres, without a prior consultation with a specialist doctor.

More surgical hubs will also be created to focus on common, less complex procedures, such as cataract surgeries and some orthopaedic work.

These hubs are ring-fenced from other parts of the hospital, to ensure operating-theatre time is not lost if there are emergency cases.

The new plan also says abolishing automatic review appointments after treatment, offering them instead only to patients who request them, will free up a million appointments every year for patients who really need them.

And officials say these extra appointments will be in addition to the two million a year – or 40,000 a week – above the normal annual total of more than 100 million, that Labour promised, before the election, to create within a year.