Far-reaching changes to the National Health Service - announced by Health Secretary Alan Milburn - have been hailed by the Northern Echo as the biggest revolution in health care since the NHS was founded in 1948.

It was just over a year ago that the Echo was at the forefront of calls for a fundamental review of a failing NHS.

It underlined those failings with its campaign A Chance To Live which demanded a long-term strategy aimed at reducing unacceptable waiting times in this country for heart bypass surgery.

It followed the death of 38-year-old father-of-two, and Echo deputy chief photographer, Ian Weir as he waited to see a heart consultant.

He was one of 500 people a year who die waiting for that kind of surgery.

Editor Peter Barron said: "It seemed to us that Ian's tragic case was the catalyst for a mood change within the Government. It snowballed and led to a realisation that drastic measures were needed."

Introducing a page of articles spotlighting the reforms, Mr Barron told Echo readers: "This is just a plan. But plans must be acted upon and thousands more doctors and nurses cannot be conjured up overnight. But the foundations for rebuilding a crumbling institution had to be laid - and they have been."

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