The Conservatives have launched their campaign to "save the NHS" and give it greater independence from ministers.

The plan, unveiled at the party's annual conference in Bournemouth last week, will see a series of local campaigns target hospital closures and staff redundancies.

Party leader David Cameron and shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley visited Great Ormond Street Hospital in London on Monday morning to highlight the campaign.

They then took part in a Conservative health policy forum event at the King's Fund think-tank.

Cameron called for the NHS to be given greater independence from ministers, getting legislation in place by spring 2008.

New Bill

"Our plan is to publish a Bill in the New Year, and we hope that the government will work with us on the details and help produce a Bill that commands support on all sides of the House of Commons," he said.

Cameron said the role of central government would change under a Conservative government and the NHS would have to take more professional accountability.

And he outlined five steps which the party would take in its approach to the NHS.

It would increase real terms spending on the health service and would bring to a halt any further reorganisation of local and regional structures, allowing the current set-up to "settle down and bed in".

The Tories would also go further in increasing the power of GPs and primary care trusts and would support foundation hospitals.

The party would get rid of central targets for health authorities and would bring "fair funding" to the system, distributing resources for clinical needs not for political purposes, Cameron added.

"So my message to the government is clear: The NHS matters too much to be treated like a political football," Cameron said.

"Let's work together to improve the NHS for everyone.

"Let's give the NHS fair funding, and let's give taxpayers better value for money by getting rid of the targets and bureaucracy and pen-pushing that's all about politicians' priorities, not the needs of patients."

'Top priority'

Last week Cameron used his closing party conference speech to call on the government to "stop cutting the NHS", saying the health service would be his top priority in office.

"We will serve and support the National Health Service," he said.

"We will always support the NHS with the funding it needs. But we will make sure that money is well spent."

The campaign was boosted over the weekend by a new poll showing the Tories having overtaken Labour as the party most trusted to run the health service.

And on Monday the Royal College of Nursing stepped up its own campaign against NHS redundancies.

The union warned that as a result of health trusts' deficits, the number of posts that may be lost could exceed 20,000.

RCN general secretary Dr Beverly Malone was set to hand over a 46,000 signature petition to Downing Street, protesting against the job losses, while a survey of nurses showed that 83.3 per cent believe that training has been reduced or cut as a result of financial pressures.

"We hope the government will now acknowledge the concern and distress which this dash for financial balance is causing amongst nurses and patients," Malone said.

"We want the government to halt the short-term fix of service cuts and redundancy, and implement a long term deficits recovery programme."

NHS budget

However ministers insist that the NHS budget is rising in real terms, while trusts that have overspent need to be brought back into balance and most job losses are among agency, rather than full time, staff.

And Labour Party general secretary Peter Watt launched an attack on Cameron's "opportunistic" strategy.

"The Tories don't believe in the National Health Service," he said.

"They voted against all of the extra investment Labour has made in the NHS which has paid for more doctors, more nurses, more operations and that has sharply reduced waiting times.

"And today, their spending plans would mean cuts to Labour's investment in the NHS."