THE NHS raced towards its biggest ever privatisation yesterday as five firms vied for Staffordshire cancer and care service contracts worth up to £1.2 billion. 

Alongside British outsourcers Virgin Health and Interserve, US health privateers UnitedHealth, Maximus and CSC are all lobbying for business in a process which critics say is shrouded in secrecy.

Two local NHS “bidders,” The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and Stoke’s University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, are being forced to splash cash in response as they compete for the treatment and end-of-life care contracts.