Follow this 12 point plan for a healthier NHS:

1. 24 hour patient-care help-line for all hospital patients (code-dialling to restrict access to current and recent patients and their families).

2. Support for the provision of NHS GP services through high street stores and superstores.

3. Patient care commitments - to not cancel or miss appointments, to not lose or fail to consult relevant medical notes, to provide treatment within 6 months or to offer an alternative (if necessary from a private sector supplier).

4. Carbon copies of all doctors' notes will be passed to patients as they are written. Doctors' notes must always clearly state next steps for both parties. With the patient's consent, doctors will be able to ask secretaries to make these notes.

5. Hospital food to cost patients 50p per day; the job of the NHS is to provide health care free at the point of use.

6. Annual reports on every NHS institution primarily based on a patient survey assessing i) what is important to patients ii) how institutions performed in their eyes and iii) their state of health across the year. In addition to surveys by post, internet and telephone, a sample of patients will be interviewed at the place where they receive their care.

7. Each NHS institution will now be made responsible for setting targets for improvement across a broad range of measures. Its performance should be independently audited. The auditor will be free to focus on any aspect of performance. For example, the quality of health care will be of particular interest to current and recent patients, whereas waiting patients and the broader community will also be interested in the quantity of health care being provided.

8. All initiatives and increased funding to be targeted on districts experiencing the greatest health inequality.

9. Medical school fees re-paid through a system of credits earned on the basis of hours worked within the NHS - for example, a doctor or nurse leaving the NHS after just one year of service would be required to repay most of his or her medical school fees.

10. Dental work related to tooth decay will no longer be funded by the NHS with the following exceptions - all check-ups, plus dental care for children, pregnant women and those on low income. Tooth decay can easily be monitored and it is easy for individuals to take responsibility for the prevention of decay. Dental care not related to decay (e.g. for problems arising from accidents or inherited conditions) will still be available on the NHS.

11. There will be a tax on private medical fees of at least 17.5%. Not charging VAT on private health treatment is an unjustifiable subsidy.

12. The number of managers within the NHS will be reviewed by an independent commission. But any surplus managers will not be forced to leave; instead they will be re-deployed as patient champions. This new role will involve tracking the process of treatment on behalf of patients (across institutions), keeping them informed about the process, and identifying opportunities for the patient to play a full role in their treatment (e.g. by providing health promotion information, by checking that doctors' advice is being followed, by checking that patients are preparing for and attending appointments).