Health secretary Andrew Lansley has accused his predecessors of wasting hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money by engaging private providers with the health service.

The former Labour government refused to disclose the final amounts paid for Independent Sector Treatment Centres (ISTCs) claiming that doing so would jeopardise the ability of the Department of Health and the NHS to secure the best value for money.

However, the health secretary has calculated that it would have been £300 million cheaper if the NHS had carried out the work in house.

Lansley has insisted that he is not against the use of the private sector but said providers must compete on a level playing field and provide value for money, and accused Labour of “signing wasteful preferential contracts”.

But critics have suggested these figures raise serious questions over the coalition’s own attitude towards utilising private providers in the health service.