'Make election a referendum on NHS sale'

The shadow health secretary received three standing ovations as he delivered his keynote conference speech, promising that a vote for Labour in 2015 will be a vote for the NHS.

He labelled Prime Minister David Cameron an "NHS conman" who "cynically posed as a friend of the NHS to rebrand the Tories but who has sold it down the river."

Mr Burnham warned: "The NHS desperately needs a Labour win in 2015. It won't last another term of Cameron."

But he conceded that sometimes Labour had got it wrong, admitting "some PFI deals were poor value for money" and "at times we let the market in too far."

He said: "My answer is simple: markets deliver fragmentation, the future demands integration."

He vowed to integrate care and called for an "NHS with mental health at its heart, not relegated to the fringes but ready to help people deal with the pressure of modern living."

And his message to new "invisible" Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt was "it's hard to be a shadow when you're up against the invisible man.

"If you promise to stop privatising the NHS I promise never to mispronounce your name."

His speech came following a debate on health and social care that welcomed the commitment to repeal NHS reforms but demanded an end to PFI and plans by 20 south-west trusts to introduce regional pay.

Hull North CLP delegate Patrick Smith said: "We must go further than saving the NHS. There must be an end to PFI and outsourcing.

"If we can offer that there's no question that Labour will win the next election by a landslide."

Health Emergency campaign group's John Lister agreed that Labour needs to end PFI. "They would need to admit that PFI was wrong and is wasting money," he told the Star.