The NHS should become an independent body similar to the BBC to prevent further financial crisis, the editor of the British Medical Journal (BMJ) said today.

In an editorial, Fiona Godlee contends that independence from the government would prevent the NHS from being undermined by short-term planning for political gain.

She suggested turning the health service into an independent authority, or separate authorities for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, run - like the BBC - by a board of governors and with a set budget.

Ms Godlee appealed to the chancellor, Gordon Brown, to make this his first decision as prime minister if he succeeds Tony Blair.

The BMJ editor blamed the spiralling debts of the NHS, predicted to exceed £900m by the end of the financial year in April, on the government's confusing and even contradictory succession of policy initiatives.

She said: "Staff and patients are buffeted by one policy change after another, often seeming to bring us full circle. And we are left not knowing whether we have gone too far with these reforms or not far enough.

"If this crisis tells us anything it is that healthcare is too important to be left to politicians. Five or even 10 years of office do not lend themselves to long-term strategic planning," Ms Godlee said.

It would be "depressing" if the government's record NHS investment proved to have been a missed opportunity for significantly improving the organisation, she added.

More than 4,000 NHS jobs have been cut in the past month as a result of the financial crisis.