A leading trade unionist has claimed there are just six months left to prevent the NHS from ending as we know it.

The TUC’s John Lister, Director of Health Emergency, insisted efforts to resist the controversial Health and Social Care Act must be increased before it is too late.

Mr Lister said an “urgent clarion call” is needed to “resist the privatisation, cuts, closures and wage reductions”.

He said that the Act aims to “fragment the NHS, marketise it, commercialise it and privatise the services that offer profits, while leaving the rest as an underfunded, understaffed shambles.”

Despite being at the heart of the health reforms, Mr Lister claims that GPs “will be in the hot seat for future cutbacks.” “In reality all of these plans are cash-driven, cynical efforts to meet Lansley’s £20bn target for ‘efficiency savings’,” he said.

The activist has now called for a “firm rejection of the Act” by union members, increased publicity to raise “public alarm” over the proposed reforms and a planned demonstration as a “landmark” to “highlight the lethal threat the coalition poses to the health service.”

“We need to get people aware, angry, campaigning and reclaiming our NHS before the private sector reclaims the bits they have wanted since 1948 and dumps the rest into permanent crisis,” he said.

Commenting on the appointment of the new Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Mr Lister added that Andrew Lansley’s replacement has “all of the neoliberal politics” of his predecessor but “none of his declared attachment to the NHS”.

“He has made none of Lansley’s conciliatory gestures and promises to GPs during the progress of the Bill through Parliament and will no doubt find all of its worst proposals most congenial,” he said.

“His appointment as part of a rightward lurch by Cameron seems likely to result in accelerating the implementation of the Bill, while no doubt briefly diverting the energies of the British Medical Association and others who will feel obliged to give him the benefit of the doubt for a few weeks, wasting a bit more time before recognising the need to crank up the fight.”

More than 2,000 uniformed healthcare professionals and patients have filled Central Hall Westminster in opposition against the Government’s controversial Health and Social Care Bill.

The All Together for the NHS campaign, organised by the TUC, saw an alliance of union members and high-profile individuals from royal colleges and professional groups rally against the reforms.

Brendan Barber, TUC General Secretary, said in a speech at the rally it was “vital that we make our voice heard” and the Health Bill was the “biggest threat our NHS has ever seen”.

In one of more than 30 speeches, Mr Barber said the campaign aimed to maintain a “publicly-accountable health service, for the values that make our NHS special, and for the ethos of public service itself.”

“I want the message to go out loud and clear that our NHS is not for sale, not today, not tomorrow, and not ever,” he said.

“The Bill will also mean privatisation on a huge scale, with our health service opened up to competition by any willing provider. Private firms will profit by cherry-picking the easiest, most lucrative work – leaving the taxpayer to pick up the tab for everything else. That is simply not acceptable.”

He added that the reforms were “wrong for patients, wrong for the public, and wrong for Britain”.

The Prime Minister, Mr Barber said, also needs to understand that he will pay a “devastating political price” if he presses ahead with the “ill-conceived, reckless, expensive Bill”.

“We will not allow this government to destroy what has taken generations to build,” he insisted.

Other speakers at the rally included the comedian Jo Brand, who used to work as a psychiatric nurse, Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham MP, crossbench Peer Lord Owen, Liberal Democrat MP Andrew George, UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis and BMA Chairman Dr Hamish Meldrum.

Dave Prentis commented that patients will face growing waiting lists if the controversial legislation continues its passage to Royal Assent. “Introducing competition into the NHS will usher in private companies,” he said. “They will put profit before patients. Where you have competition you have winners and losers and it will mean that patients are hit as some hospitals close. Taking the cap off the number of private patients that can be treated by a hospital means that those who can pay will go to the front of the queue.”