The protest was held before peers debated the Health and Social Care Bill in the House of Lords, with placards warning against the creation of a US-style health-care system in Britain.

Andrew McCabe from Keep Our NHS Public said: "Everything this coalition says the Bill will do is a lie.

The fact is that this legislation will privatise and fragment the NHS.

"If this government can privatise the NHS it can privatise anything."

Health visitors have become the latest organisation to come out against the Bill.

The Community Practitioners' and Health Visitors Association (CPHVA) argues the reforms will put private healthcare companies in the driving seat, fragment services and reduce access for the most vulnerable in society.

CPHVA chairwoman Alison Higley stated: "Our members believe the reforms will have far-reaching negative outcomes for the most vulnerable in our society, and this is the group we have devoted our working lives to supporting.

"We have worked with GPs closely for many years and they, too, like us, do not believe that they have been listened to about their legitimate concerns about the Bill."

A report published yesterday by a cross-party health select committee criticised social care, particularly for the elderly, and advised the government to create a more joined-up system integrating health, housing and social services.

And public health experts have warned the Bill would bring similar problems to those in social care with privatisation fragmenting and "disintegrating" the NHS.

They point out that over 80 per cent of residential care is now privatised and many care homes are run for private profit.

London GP Jonathan Tomlinson said: "If you want to know what a market in health-care would look like, just look at elderly care - or dentistry, where charges are rampant, the private sector rules the roost, and many people cannot find an NHS dentist.

"Now GPs see many patients with dental problems. The NHS leads the world in fair access to care - Health Secretary Andrew Lansley's Bill would undermine that."

Lancashire GP Dr David Wrigley added: "Our NHS was making real progress before Andrew Lansley's Bill and is recognised as one of the best [systems] in the world. The danger is that it could become as unfair and chaotic as care of the elderly."

Labour leader Ed Miliband brought the NHS reforms to the forefront of the debate during Prime Minister's Questions, calling on PM David Cameron to abandon the Bill.

He said: "The Royal College of GPs said these reforms will cause irreparable damage to patient care and the NHS.

"Mr Cameron says he wants the voice of doctors heard in the NHS, why doesn't he listen to them?"

Mr Miliband added that "even the Tories don't trust the Tories on the NHS" in reference to the Tory Reform Group coming out against the Bill.

The Prime Minister responded: "We are taking £4.5 billion out of bureaucracy and putting it into patient care."

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it