The fears were raised after news the next Prime Minister will have to find £4.7bn of savings or tax rises for the unfunded element of the Government's £15bn Defence Investment Plan (DIP).

Siva Anandaciva, director of policy, events and partnerships at The King's Fund, said: ‘While many people understand the need to increase defence spending, cutting the NHS capital budget, which helps maintain NHS buildings and equipment, including MRI and CT scanners, will have a knock-on effect on patient care.'

The Government's New Hospital Programme committed to £15bn over each five-year wave until 2039.

The concerns came after the PM's spokesperson at No 10 failed to rule out cuts to some hospital building programmes to pay for increased defence spending.

Asked whether hospital building projects would be protected from cuts to capital budgets, the spokesperson replied: ‘Thanks to this Government's record investment in the NHS there will be no impact to funding for frontline services.

‘This will also not affect the timetable for delivery of the seven Raac-affected hospitals which we've prioritised or wave 1 projects of the New Hospital Programme and we still plan to spend more than £15bn on capital health investment.'

Anandaciva added: ‘There are also serious questions about where the remaining £4.7bn needed to reach the planned £15bn will come from and whether this signals less investment in health and care in years ahead.'