IMPROVED measures to tackle breast cancer will be promoted by Labour today as the party seeks to woo female voters who pollsters say are much less likely to back Tony Blair than men.

John Reid, the Health Secretary, will make a pledge that every suspected breast cancer case, not just those deemed urgent, will be screened within two weeks by 2008. It follows a promise yesterday to cut the wait for cervical smear test results from seven weeks to seven days.

The Conservatives will counter with an NHS pledge of their own: to build five new children’s hospitals. They will also attack Mr Reid’s promises as meaningless because they contain no guarantee of faster follow-up treatment.

Michael Howard has also responded to a Labour challenge to sack a Tory candidate who wanted women to pay for NHS screening programmes.

Jim Thornton, Conservative prospective candidate for Labour-held Nottingham East, has called for the privatisation of screening programmes for heart conditions, breast and cervical cancer. But a spokesman for Mr Howard said that Professor Thornton was speaking in 1999 and that his views did not represent the party position.

Labour is determined to spend today campaigning on the NHS. Mr Blair will lead the assault, after an independent report showed that health targets had helped to speed up treatment. Opposition parties will seize upon parts of the same report that seem to bear out their claims that the target culture means that other services are neglected.

The breast cancer promise is particularly emotive because it concerns the most common cancer facing women in Britain today, with about 40,000 cases a year. It comes after several Labour measures to target women, including a focus on maternity leave and childcare.

Mr Reid will say that Labour wants to end the uncertainty faced by women who are referred for screening but whose cases are deemed non-urgent. While 99 per cent of women whose case is said to be urgent by their GP receive a diagnosis within two weeks, non-urgent screening can take up to seven weeks.

Mr Reid said: “Getting test results in a week will reduce worry for the vast majority of women who get the all-clear and ensures speedy access to treatment for those who need it. Speeding up test results through investing in the latest technology, new hospital labs and staff training is just one way Labour will ensure all NHS patients are treated within 18 weeks maximum, with no hidden waits, from seeing the family doctor to having an operation or starting treatment.”

Andrew Lansley, the Conservative health spokesman, said that Mr Reid was resorting to lies and abuse about the Conservatives. He said that Labour’s plan to get screening results will do nothing to ensure faster treatment and attacked the pledge to cut waiting for initial treatment. “Because they are untargeted, the time taken to receive these treatments will slip as resources are pushed to the front end of the patient journey to meet the Government’s target,” he said.

Paul Burstow, the Liberal Democrat health spokersman, said: “It is not just a question of getting the tests quickly, it is about getting the result first time, followed by the right treatment. The danger with health targets is that they leave behind those with illnesses without a target and stops hardworking doctors and nurses from using their common sense and clinical judgment.”

Mr Lansley will say today that building five new children’s hospitals will be the priority for a Conservative government. Hospitals in Leeds, Nottingham, Derby, Cambridge and Southampton would be invited to bid for funding to support projects to bring their paediatric services together into new children’s hospitals, he will say.

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