Doctors' leaders have warned that the government is changing the character of the NHS by turning it from an organisation which treats patients into a purchaser of services provided by private contractors.

James Johnson, chairman of the British Medical Association, said that the health secretary was departing from the spirit of the 2000 NHS plan, which had received widespread backing from the health community.

But John Reid has insisted that reforms must go on, and on Thursday night called for patients to be given more information on how their local GP performs.