The chancellor will set out how additional health funding will be paid in this autumn’s budget

Philip Hammond is preparing to raise up to £10 billion in extra tax to help to boost the NHS on its 70th birthday.

Theresa May is also to lift a cap on skilled workers from outside the EU that blocks foreign doctors from coming to Britain. The move will precede the expected announcement next week of a package of measures to improve the health service.

The prime minister has promised a “multiyear” funding settlement for the NHS to address long-term financial needs, which were highlighted this winter when thousands of nonemergency operations were postponed.

Precise figures are being negotiated, but health experts calculate that the NHS faces an annual £20 billion funding gap by 2022 because the ageing population is placing greater demands on services.