Health is set to be the main focus of the Budget and hospital professionals have urged Gordon Brown to ensure the money reaches the frontline.

NHS staff have been warned by the government that they will have to change the way they work to justify extra investment. The Treasury, annoyed that the cash handed out has in some cases yet to be spent, has issued a "carrot and stick" warning.

Health secretary Alan Milburn has been told by Gordon Brown that the rise in taxation must be matched by radical reform of the way the NHS works.

Medical staff have welcomed the extra cash that is likely to be going to them but cautioned it should not lead to reform for the sake of change.

The BMA told ePolitix.com that its members welcomed the "sustained and continued" investment through taxation.

"We are in favour of investment coming through in taxation but how it is done is up to the government," said a spokesman. "We do need to ensure that it gets to the frontline and staff realise the benefit of it. The money will have to have impact."

"We are in favour of any sensible reforms that improve the quality of patient care. Change can be a good thing as long as it is tried and tested."

Dr Beverly Malone, the general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said the increase in resources for the NHS would be worthless if the government failed to invest in frontline staff.

"Staff are key to delivering existing services in hospitals and communities across the UK, and to implementing new, innovative, responsive and cost-effective approaches to delivering care," she said.

Malone warned that her members would be crucial in delivering the changes that Brown and Milburn will be demanding in return for the extra investment.

"We welcome the chancellor's commitment to reforming and improving the NHS. However, the RCN is urging Gordon Brown to commit £3 billion over the next five years to fund Agenda for Change, the programme to modernise pay and career structures across the NHS," Malone said.

"Without a full and healthy workforce, the NHS will not be able to continue its essential programme of modernisation and better service delivery."