The government today came under renewed pressure over its controversial health bill as a new campaign was launched urging it to scrap or face creating 'catastrophic damage'.
Ministers were facing fresh calls to abolish the plans as they were told it will put the NHS in 'great danger'.
The call came as part of a national drive to unite those against the proposals and urge the Coalition to listen and act on the wide-ranging concerns of clinicians and patients.
The 'Drop the Bill' campaign, aims to show the full scale of opposition to the Government's plans, and hopes to heap further pressure on David Cameron and Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, to 'do right by patients' and put a stop the biggest overhaul of the NHS since its inception.
As the campaign was launched by the Labour Party today, shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said: "At a time when the NHS is facing the biggest financial challenge in its history, there couldn't be a worst time for a huge disorganisation. The NHS is essentially drifting at the moment. This bill could prove catastrophic.
"People didn't vote for this bill, they didn't vote for the break-up of the health service. I believe it is still possible to stop the bill. I know in my heart of hearts the Tories and the Lib Dems can see the folly of this bill."
People will be urged to sign an online petition at dropthebill.com to show their opposition to the plans. In addition, Labour's shadow health team will be holding events across the country over the next three months, including 'Drop the Bill' rallies.
The launch of the drive came as the Government indicated it would give ground on the duty to promote autonomy of NHS organisations - a key measure designed to boost competition over collaboration.
Mr Burnham added: "There has been climbdown after climbdown on the bill, on issues that go to the heart of their vision. It is a fundamentally bad bill."
He added it would create a 'postcode lottery' for treatments, lead to longer waiting times and damage the doctor/patient relationship.
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"These arguments demolish the case for the bill, they show it is flimsy and it is in tatters," he said. "It will put the NHS in great danger.
Millions of people are prepared to fight it, our job is to unite all these people into one big deafening cry."
A Department of Health spokesman said: "We are passionate about the NHS and want to safeguard its future. We know that some of our health outcomes for patients lag behind European averages.
If we want our NHS to be truly-world class, we can, and must, do better. That is why we are modernising the health service to improve outcomes for patients and safeguard the NHS for future generations."
