An East Sussex NHS trust was today awarded £100,000 to set up a "GP surgery of the future".

Health minister John Hutton said the cash would establish a primary care centre in the area covered by Eastbourne Downs Primary Care Trust.

The centre will have an optician, dentist, pharmacist and health care workers, as well as a GP surgery.

The aim is to give people all the services they need in one location, rather than having to visit each one separately.

Mr Hutton said: "New one-stop primary care centres are the GP surgeries of the future."

Meanwhile, Mr Hutton is issuing new guidelines to hospitals across the county, urging them to carry out more day care operations.

The policy is a key part of the government's campaign to reduce waiting times for operations to six months by 2005.

Conditions which can be treated without an overnight stay are to include breast cancer operations and complex keyhole surgery.