David Cameron has challenged the government to back Conservative plans to give the NHS day-to-day independence, in a move taking the Tories into traditional Labour territory.
Mr Cameron is proposing a NHS independence bill, which would give health managers the autonomy to set their own clinical priorities rather than following "political expediency".
And in a bold piece of political manoeuvring, the Tories will publish the bill, in the new year, then challenge the government to back it.
In a speech today to the King's Fund, the health service thinktank, the Tory leader claimed that such a move would take politicians out of the day to day running of the NHS and stop the service being "treated like a political football".
It also appears to be a cheeky piece of political cross-dressing, as two Blairite ministers floated the idea on the eve of the Labour party conference of creating a "NHS charter", similar to that for the BBC, which would see the health service's funding and policy framework decided by ministers, but give the NHS more operational independence at local and regional level.
Although not official government policy, James Purnell and Andy Burnham's idea is believed to have Downing Street backing.
Mr Cameron proposed the NHS independence bill, part of the Tories' working groups' reviews of policy, as part of a five-point platform spelling out Conservative priorities for the health service.
Repeating his conference claim of last week, that the NHS was one of "the greatest achievements of the 21st century", Mr Cameron reaffirmed his commitment to increased funding for the NHS but insisted that it needed "a new direction" based on more professional accountability.
"The NHS must change for the better, and we must be prepared to argue for the changes the NHS needs.
"I believe we need a new direction for the NHS, and that new direction should be based on our idea of social responsibility.
"That means moving away from the idea that the government's role is to micromanage the delivery of healthcare in Britain, and moving towards greater professional responsibility for those who work in the NHS."
The exact chain of responsibility for the NHS under the bill was not spelt out in the speech.
Mr Cameron stated: "We will end political meddling over money, removing the scope for fiddling by distributing resources for reasons of political expediency rather than clinical need."
The bill would "offer a statutory framework that will take politicians out of the day to day running of the NHS," Mr Cameron said.
"Our plan is to publish a bill in the new year and we hope 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.
"So my massage to the government is clear; the NHS matters too much to be treated like a political football."
Mr Cameron, who earlier visited Great Ormond Street hospital in London, promised that real-terms spending on public services would rise under a Conservative government.
"As our economy grows, one of the most important calls on the proceeds of growth will be the NHS," he added.
He said that the Tories would stop reorganising the NHS, allowing present structures to settle in, and would "work with the grain" of the government's reforms where they were "the right thing".
"We support foundation hospitals. We want to see all hospitals have greater freedom," he said.
The Tories would also "take the politics out" of NHS management by scrapping centrally-imposed targets, and bring "fair funding" to the health service.
"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."
But he warned that independence for the NHS would not mean a "blank cheque".
"It will strengthen accountability, because professionals in the NHS will be clearly more accountable for the things they're responsible for, and for raising standards," he said.
"That's how any professional organisation works, and with greater professional responsibility in the NHS will come greater professional accountability."
Under the plans, the government would remain accountable to the electorate for spending on the NHS and for decisions about "the scope of what is offered" by the health service.
The five points would be to give the NHS "the money it needs", to end "pointless reorganisations" within the NHS, increase the number of foundation hospitals and give more freedoms to GPs, to end centrally imposed clinical targets, and, lastly, the independence bill.
Last week the general secretary of the Labour party, Peter Watt, launched an online petition claiming that the Tories would impose spending cuts on the NHS.
In reaction to Mr Cameron's main Bournemouth conference speech, which focused on the NHS, Mr Watt said: "The Tories don't believe in the national health service.
"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. The only words the Tories know when it comes to the NHS are cuts, cuts, cuts."
The Liberal Democrats' health spokesman, Steve Webb, said: "David Cameron seems to be asking the right questions, but coming up with the wrong answers.
"Stopping political interference in the NHS is essential, but we shouldn't be handing power over to another unelected quango, independent of politicians, but accountable to no one."
The chief executive of the King's Fund gave Mr Cameron's speech a mixed response.
Niall Dickson said he welcomed "the Conservatives' commitment to making the NHS a priority" and added that "the idea of a more independent NHS is certainly worth considering and should not be dismissed".
But he said: "It would be a mistake to believe that this is a panacea or that it will ever be possible to remove politics from a life-and-death service that consumes £100bn of public money every year."
