Speaking to a packed auditorium, Sir Jim revealed he had seen an early version of the document, which is expected to be published in early July, adding it was ‘really, really impressive'.

‘Hopefully you will read it and say ‘thank God for that," ‘ he said.

Sir Jim said the 10-Year Health Plan would ‘release a lot of energy' in the next few years, adding: ‘We really need to release the ambition that we all know exists all over the NHS.

‘What we want is for people to get out so far in front of us so at the centre we are struggling to keep up with you. Let's all go for this and go for it together.'

Commenting on the chancellor's announcement of £29bn over the next three years yesterday, Sir Jim said: ‘We're always going to be in a world where we want more money but I think everyone's starting to accept and understand that we've got what the country can afford to give us. We really need to get better value for that money.'

Sir Jim said the money the NHS had been given was equivalent to the GDP of Portugal and was a ‘huge amount of money by any standards'.

He said the investment ‘would not allow us to take our foot off the pedal', cautioning: ‘We have still have an awful lot of difficult things to do.'