I know I keep returning the Government’s “reforms” of the NHS but it seems like every week brings out some new and more disturbing aspect of what they are proposing.

The latest one comes into the “you couldn’t make it up” category. Credit rating agencies such as Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s are going to be asked to assess the financial health of hospitals under the new system. If a hospital doesn’t get a good rating from an agency they will lose their license to operate in the NHS.

Let’s just remind ourselves that these are the same agencies that helped create the current financial mess by giving a “safe as houses” rating to investments that were basically worthless. And they are the same agencies who, having been far too lax before 2008, are now going too far the other way, merrily downgrading countries and banks, putting up borrowing costs, leading to further cuts.

Does anyone except the Government have any confidence in these agencies? They are lucky they are still in business, never mind being given extra work. To add insult to injury they will charge a fee for these NHS ratings – money that should be spent on patient care.

This steady drip of alarming details means more and more people are coming out in opposition to the Government’s plans. Now the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Midwives have joined the British Medical Association in calling for the Health and Social Care Bill to be scrapped saying it is “a serious threat to the NHS”.

I remember when the last Tory Government privatised the railways. There wasn’t a single person outside the Government who thought it was a good idea. And look what a disaster rail privatisation turned out to be.

The number of people opposing the Government’s privatisation of the NHS is similarly overwhelming. I only hope they heed the warnings and back down now before we are faced with an even bigger disaster.