The health secretary, John Reid, briefed the cabinet yesterday on his five year plan for the health service, the first of a series of long-term policies to be announced in the next few weeks.

Ministers hope the plans will give the government momentum and refocus political debate on the domestic agenda after 15 months of dominance by foreign affairs.

The new health package, to be announced next week, will include plans to cut waiting times and offer patients greater choice over their treatment.

Ministers are keen to outflank the Conservatives on the issue of choice in public services and Mr Reid told cabinet colleagues his plans are designed to give greater freedom in a non-market public service.

He described the Tory proposals as "choice with charges".

Mr Reid's five year plan will be the first in a series of long-term policies to be published over the next few weeks alongside the Treasury's spending review due to be published at the end of the month.

The five year plans are a Downing Street innovation.

Health is seen as central to Labour thinking, partly because funding has been set.

Mr Reid will also place greater emphasis on public health. There is speculation that will extend choice next week by dropping the restrictions forcing patients to choose between only four or five hospitals for treatment

The Tories have promised to let patients choose between hospitals, a proposal dubbed unrealistic by many health professionals. Mr Reid told yesterday's cabinet meeting that people increasingly demanded choice in all areas of life. That must be extended to the NHS, he said. He is relaxed about letting the private sector provide services for the NHS if the service, or operation, is free at the point of use and regulated by the NHS.

Controversial Tory plans include a proposal for the government to pay half the cost of treatment in private hospitals if patients were prepared to meet the surplus.

Mr Reid's plans, in effect a health manifesto for the next parliament, will also include a range of slimmed down targets. A version leaked to the Health Service Journal and dated this month set out eight targets covering the period 2005-2010.

They include a maximum waiting time of four and a half months from GP referral to treatment, including a maximum waiting time of three months for any stage by 2008. A commitment to halting the year on year increase in obesity among children under 11 by 2010 is also outlined.

As part of the shift from acute care, it will also set out proposals for older people with chronic conditions to to be treated through personalised care plans for the most vulnerable patients. Mr Blair denied this week that the public will be unimpressed by another stream of managerial targets, arguing such targets have been vital to pushing the NHS towards its goals.

However, there has been Whitehall pressure to reduce the number of goals and give the staff a greater sense of ownership of the targets.