Up to half of GP surgeries will open in the evenings or at weekends under plans unveiled by ministers yesterday.

About 4,000 practices will open additional hours to serve patients at convenient times to suit them, said Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

He joined Health Secretary Alan Johnson for the launch of Health Minister and surgeon Lord Ara Darzi's interim report on the future of the NHS in England.

Opposition MPs claimed the key report had been brought forward as a vote winner before a possible snap General Election.

Lord Darzi's report - Our NHS, Our Future - sets out how primary care trusts (PCTs) must work with doctors to ensure they open at weekends or on one or more week-nights.

If doctors refuse, then PCTs will be able to use cash to commission those services from elsewhere.

A total of 150 GP-run health centres, open seven days a week from 8am to 8pm, will also be established and put in "easily accessible" locations, the report said.

These will include access to services such as diagnostic testing and physiotherapy - similar to "polyclinics".

All patients admitted to hospital for planned or emergency procedures will also be screened for MRSA. The Government's aim is to screen all elected admissions next year, with screening for emergency admissions phased in over the next three years.

More than 100 new GP practices with up to 900 GPs, nurses, and health care assistants will also open in the quarter of PCTs with the poorest provision.

The aim there is to tackle a shortage of GPs in some regions and improve the health of people living in deprived areas.

Mr Brown said addressing the lack of access to doctors would require "both new investment in funds and intensified reform".

"Working with GPs, we will increase access to existing GP surgeries so that patients can get the services they want at times convenient for them and therefore have more choice," he said.

Mr Brown said an "immediate aim" was for at least half of GP surgeries in the country to open for additional hours. However, no official timetable has been put in place for when the extended services will be up and running.

Lord Darzi said the review offered an opportunity to design a world class health service for the next decade. His visits with 15,000 NHS staff and members of the public had thrown up "a few surprises", leading to the focus on cleanliness, infections, innovation and access.

Mr Johnson said the Government was seeking to take the NHS "from the good to the great - world class in all aspects instead of just some".

However, Conservative leader David Cameron said: "Today we have got the Government announcing its new plans for health and to me it is another blueprint for cuts.

"Lord Darzi has said the days of the district general hospital are over. What that means is up and down the country, hospitals are going to be threatened with cutbacks and closures like the ones we have seen over the past year."

Last night, Ian Dalton, chief executive of the North-East Strategic Health Authority, said: "The report covers many of the key areas of major interest to both the public and health service staff in the North-East.

"We welcome the move to increase convenient services in the community close to people's homes, and even more focus on measures such as MRSA screening."