One of David Cameron’s most senior health advisers told a conference of health executives that the NHS will be privatised, advising representatives from healthcare companies of an impending goldrush in the wake of Andrew Lansley’s health reforms.

Mark Britnell was NHS director general for commissioning and system management before joining the private sector as global head of health at KPMG. He was recently appointed to a new panel of senior health policy experts by David Cameron, attending their first meeting last week.

According to the public relations industry monitoring site Spinwatch Britnell did not mince his words on privatisation when addressing a seminar called “Reform Revolution” at a conference for healthcare corporations:

“In future, the NHS will be a state insurance provider not a state deliverer.”

Delegates had been told the conference, run by $20 billion private equity firm Apax Partners, would cover “business opportunities post global healthcare reform.” Britnell delivered the good, offering this deliciously off-message sound bite:

“The NHS will be shown no mercy and the best time to take advantage of this will be in the next couple of years.”

Despite their focus on health reform, Cameron’s new panel of advisers will not contribute to the announced process in which stakeholders can suggest “improvements” to Andrew Lansley’s proposals.

As though we needed any more evidence that this “listening exercise” is a sham.