Presenting to the Royal College of Nursing conference in Bournemouth, Prime Minister Gordon Brown dubbed the National Health Service (NHS) ''the best insurance policy in the world today,'' praising the work of those from nurse manager jobs to front line staff nurses.

Mr Brown thanked nurses consistently, in a speech to reassure health professionals that his Labour party was committed to improving and investing in the NHS for the future, saying: "Thank you for the service you give, for the work you do, the contribution you render and the differences you make."

Re-iterating that the service would always be free of charge, the Prime Minister compared Britain to the likes of the US, where patients are required to have health insurance or face hefty medical bills should they require treatment.

The Independent report that in his speech, Brown commented that nurse roles had grown substantially since Labour came to power in 1997, with the number of nurses rising 80,000 to 500,000 in 2010.

The PM addressed the hundreds of nursing staff saying: ''I'm here to say to you today, I'm determined to work with you day by day, week by week, month after month, year after year, to make the NHS even better."