A backbench parliamentary Bill to reverse much of the Tories’ assault on the NHS is a “lifeline that MPs must seize now,” Unite leader Len McCluskey said yesterday as the proposal’s full details were published.

The private member’s Bill from south London MP Clive Efford aims to exempt the NHS from the controversial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and would roll back marketisation pushed through in the Con-Dem Health and Social Care Act.

It would reinstate the health secretary’s responsibility of providing healthcare free at the point of need, and limit the amount of income the NHS can make from private patients.

Mr McCluskey said: “This is a chance for MPs from across the political divide to ditch the very worst parts of the government’s Health and Social Care Act and to end once and for all the market-driven privatisation of our NHS.”

His comments were echoed by Unison general secretary Dave Prentis, who said: “This is a Bill that rightly places patient care before profits.

“Voters will certainly keep a close eye on the Bill as it progresses through Parliament.

“We encourage people to write to their MPs and urge them to support the Bill on Friday November 21.”

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said the fact that most tendered contracts had gone outside the NHS since the Tory reforms made “a mockery of the Prime Minister’s claims that there is no privatisation taking place.”

The Bill is also supported by a number of healthcare unions and professional associations that are not affiliated to the TUC.