More than 70 per cent of the NHS has been privatised, it has emerged.

The NHS Support Federation, which opposes a competitive market in the NHS, said that 70 per cent of contracts for NHS services in England between April-December 2013 were won by private firms.

NHS reforms mean “qualified providers” can bid to provide clinical services, such as scans and out-of-hours care.

The NHS Support Federation said 15 out of the 57 contracts went to the NHS, two went to charities and one was shared between the NHS and a non-NHS supplier.

They cover everything from mental health services, GP and out-of-hours services to diagnostics such as blood tests, X-rays and scans.

Campaigners have argued that this is a cynical move to privatise the NHS completely.

Dr Jacky Davis, spokesperson from Keep our NHS Public, said: “The problem is the government are wasting tens of millions of pounds on these contracts, money that should be spent on front-line patient care. These companies have a record of just walking away when things go wrong and dumping the problems back on the NHS as we saw with the PIP breast implants scandal.

“This isn’t privatisation by the back door, it’s privatisation by the front door, and it is really putting patients’ lives at risk.”

Some five per cent of NHS services were delivered by the private sector, prior to the Coalition government being voted into power, but the NHS Support Federation says it is now taking a bigger stake.

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