Johnson vows plan for care overhaul

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He told delegates at Labour's spring conference in Birmingham: "When a couple have lived all their lives together they should not be forced apart at the end of their lives."

He said ministers would publish plans "to allow couples to remain together when they are forced to go in to care".

He went on: "This will be part of our increasing focus on adult social care."

The Health Secretary told the final session of the three-day conference: "The days of patients being the passive recipients of a one-size-fits-all service are over."

The British Medical Association is currently balloting GPs over changes to their contracts to allow more flexible hours and Mr Johnson said: "People should have more choice over when they are able to see their GP. I hope that in the BMA ballot this week GPs will vote to provide extra appointments at weekends or evenings.

"This is not just for the benefit of commuters who struggle to see their doctor."

Mr Johnson said that when surgeries in London's Canary Wharf opened early in the morning, "their first patients were not city hot-shots, but hourly-paid manual workers who lost money, or worse, their jobs, if they didn't go to work."

Mr Johnson said he wanted more focus on screening programmes and inoculation projects, adding: "Predicting and preventing disease is our next frontier."

He went on: "Despite the dramatic reductions in deaths from cancer, heart disease and stroke, these remain Britain's biggest killers. Despite real progress in reducing smoking, new lifestyle diseases like obesity pose huge problems for the future."