Plans to cut the amount of time patients spend in hospital were unveiled by the health secretary on Wednesday.

Alan Milburn launched a drive to expand day surgery as the government seeks to accelerate the pace of reform in the NHS.

He said an expansion in the number of day surgery operations would lead to faster, more efficient care for patients and bring down waiting times.

The move is intended to increase the number of patients who undergo an operation without an overnight stay in hospital.

Milburn believes the initiative will be a key factor in meeting the government's pledge to have no-one waiting more than six months for treatment by 2005.

There are currently nearly 3,200,000 day case operations currently carried out in the NHS - almost half of all operations undertaken by the NHS.

An Audit Commission report found the NHS could increase the number of day surgery cases by around 120,000 a year - claiming that the practice is more efficient and better value for the NHS.

Some hospitals are carrying out 30 per cent of operations as day cases and surgeons have told health chiefs there is scope to close the gap.

Milburn said he wanted to extend best practice throughout the NHS.

"NHS waiting times are falling, but the gap between the best hospitals and the worst hospitals remains too wide. Day surgery holds the key to faster, more convenient treatment for patients. More day surgery means less waiting for patients," he said.

"Reforms to protect planned operations from emergency cases are already in place in some NHS hospitals. I want to give other NHS hospitals the chance to learn from the best."