Tories pledge to be 'party of NHS'

He confirmed plans to dock payments to hospitals if patients fall prey to infections such as the MRSA superbug and he said people should be given a choice of GP, and be able to choose which hospital they use for further treatment.

The Tory leader also joined calls for people to take more responsibility for their own health - by avoiding over-eating or excessive drinking - but warned caution was needed.

"People pay tax all their life - they rightly expect treatment and service as a result," he said.

Mr Cameron, speaking in Manchester after visiting Trafford General Hospital - the first to be taken over by the NHS in 1948 - said he wanted to use the 60th anniversary of the service to reinforce his party's commitment to it.

Mr Cameron said: "The best way to enhance the power of patients is through the mechanism of choice.

He added: "So we will give people a choice of GP. We will allow patients to choose, in consultation with their GP, where they get their secondary care and we will ensure that hospitals and clinics and other care providers are paid according to the results they achieve."

He denied this would pit parts of the NHS against each other, and went on: "It should be a basic rule of social policy that you don't pay for what you don't want more of. Money should attend success, not failure."

Health Secretary Alan Johnson said Mr Cameron was proposing something that was already in legislation before Parliament.

"The Tories have no new ideas for tackling hospital associated infections. We are already taking powers to fine poor performing hospitals, with the pledge to reinvest that money back into the local NHS. Again, this shows that underneath the headline grabbing announcements there is no substance to Conservative policy on the NHS," he said.