In order to incorporate this business model, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley proposes to repeal the legal duties on Government to provide a comprehensive heath service. Freedoms created under the new bill will allow corporate commissioners and investors to contract out all NHS services to a range of private providers and redefine the range of NHS services available.

They will also be free to introduce new charges for some elements that are currently NHS services and to make savings by under-spending the patient care budget. These savings will be distributed away from patient care and distributed to staff as bonuses and shareholders as returns on their investment.

'We are committed to a national health service'
Health Minister Simon Burns told Channel 4 News: "We are absolutely committed to a comprehensive national health service, free at the point of use and based on need rather than ability to pay - nothing in our plans changes that.

"There isn't an option to do nothing. If we want to preserve the NHS for future generations, we must act now. We have protected the NHS and are ploughing in £11.5 billion of funding.

"But the NHS must modernise in order to keep up with the increasing demand on services, an ageing population and rising costs of new drugs and treatments. Our plans release an extra £1.7 billion a year from bureaucracy to be invested in patient services.

"Over 5,000 GP practices, covering two thirds of the country, have already signed up and have started to implement plans to give patients better care.

"We have been clear that we will not allow a situation where profits can be made at the expense of patient care or patient choice. GPs cannot 'pocket' savings from their budget. Commissioning budgets must be used exclusively for patient care."

This has an ulterior motive