A&E units in England should be able to meet their waiting time targets this winter, the health secretary says.
Jeremy Hunt gave the assurance as he set out a package of short term and long term measures to tackle the growing pressures in the system.
It includes an extra £500m over the next two winters - something announced earlier this summer.
But Labour said he was setting out "half-baked plans" that were just "too little, too late".
The £500m will be shared by 53 hospital trusts and is dependent on 75% of their staff being vaccinated against flu.
This has always an ongoing problem for the NHS - on average less than half of staff get the jabs.
Mr Hunt said it will be "tough" but it was "entirely possible" that last winter's problems - when A&E missed its four-hour waiting time target - could be avoided this year.
Meanwhile, he said work on longer term fixes for integrating social care with the NHS and for redesigning the whole urgent and emergency care system functions - from ambulances and telephone advice to A&E units - would continue.
This will start with care for vulnerable older patients with complex health problems.
Elderly people often feel there is no reliable alternative to hospital, says Mr Hunt.
But from 2014 they will get a named GP to coordinate their care.
Next year will also see the start of "integrated care" pilots.
These will include schemes that shift care out of hospitals and into the community by helping these patients manage their increasingly complex conditions.
It will require joint working between social care, district nursing and GPs.
A total of £3.8bn has been set aside from 2015 to roll this out across the country.
That is also the target date for the redesign of the urgent and emergency care system.
NHS Medical Director Prof Sir Bruce Keogh is leading that review.
More detail is expected in autumn, but Sir Bruce said it was looking at issues such as seven-day working and an increased role for ambulances in treating and assessing patients.
"In the long-term, I want a 24/7 service which recognises patients as individuals and looks out for them proactively," Mr Hunt added.
But Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham told the House of Commons the plans were "half-baked".
"Too little, too late. Not good enough on an issue of huge importance."
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