The leader of the UK's 330,000 nurses, Christine Hancock, has given warning to politicians to tell the truth about plans to extend the private sector into the NHS.

Hancock, in her last speech to the RCN, warned that private companies failed to keep hospitals clean and brought misery to many using residential homes.

Hancock, who is retiring after 12 years as general secretary, said: "We have no evidence that private management will provide more efficient or even better quality health services."