Labour's Andy Burnham attacks 'commercial NHS' plan

Labour has criticised the government's plan to encourage high-profile British hospitals to set up profit-making branches abroad to help fund services in the UK - despite devising a similar scheme during the party's time in government.

In 2010, Labour's then Health Secretary Andy Burnham set up NHS Global to help the health service make the most of the global market for healthcare. The coalition government's plan seeks to build on this model.

Mr Burnham warned that the government's plan "fundamentally alters the character of the NHS".