Stephen Dorrell, chair of the Commons health select committee, believes the ‘monumental challenge' of making year-on-year efficiency gains of 4% for four years, although ‘unprecedented, is not unachievable'.

The former health secretary told The MJ his committee had taken the view that the Nicholson challenge, named after the NHS chief executive, to release £20bn savings by 2015 was the defining issue in the health service.