The health secretary has called for the creation of a patient-centred NHS even if it means adopting US-style practices.

John Reid said that the health service must reform if additional expenditure is to deliver improvements in patient care.

Following a trip to America he said that the NHS should never be not beyond learning lessons from abroad.

"For some there appears to be a real problem about conferences such as this," he told health officials.

"They seem to be opposed to learning. For some the problem appears to be learning from the US.

During his recent visit to the US, Reid championed a not-for-profit organisation Kaiser Permanente which treats patients at home.

And today he pledged to examine ways of introducing a similar system in Britain.

"Nothing would be more demoralising than to be led by people who thought we had nothing to learn from anyone," he said.

"So these are arguments that demonstrate a lack of confidence in the NHS that I do not share. We are asked to be so frightened of 'abroad' that we must not learn from them.

"I stand in a different position. I believe that a preparedness to learn and improve is a sign of strength, not of weakness."

Addressing health professionals from primary care trusts, the health secretary praised the work of the US firm.

"Kaiser is a not-for-profit organisation that operates for community benefit," he said.

"So Kaiser operates in a market but is not a market-driven organisation - making assumptions about it from the old left in this country all the more odd."

Eight primary care trusts are working with the Californian not-for-profit corporation to develop pilot projects.

The corporation specialises in treating patients closer to home and the health secretary believes the system could ease the pressure on hospitals in the UK.

Failing to learn lessons from abroad would commit the NHS "to steady decline".

"The NHS is not a fragile institution afraid of paying attention to the successes of others because we are uncertain of our future," he said.

"The NHS is a strong powerful social force in British society.

"It has the capacity and the strength to learn from the market just as it has the capacity and strength not to copy it."