There are only passing references to the private sector in Lord Darzi's 85-page report, but business broadly welcomed the outcome on Monday.

A legal right for patients to choose, and the proposed phasing out of the "minimum practice income guarantee" - which will make it easier for primary care trusts to inject competition from the independent sector when GP practices perform poorly - were welcomed by Neil Bentley, the CBI's public services director.

Ending the guarantee will make it more attractive for successful practices to take on more patients, but also less expensive for primary care trusts to seek new providers.

In the longer run, encouragement for nursing and therapy staff to opt out of the NHS and sell their services back as not-for-profit social enterprises could see more contracts come up for open competition as they are renewed.

Pilot schemes in which patients with long-term conditions will be given individual budgets could also lead to more work for the private and voluntary sectors, both in management and supplying care.

But the CBI said it was disappointed that the right of staff who transfer to not-for-profit organisations to stay in the NHS pension scheme was not being extended to allow private sector employees supplying NHS care the same access to the scheme.

The report contains no new targets, however, and fears that it might lead to a reorganisation involving local government have not been realised.

The NHS "constitution" published for consultation on Monday sets out existing patient rights, the service's values and the goals it seeks to achieve. All NHS, private and voluntary suppliers will legally have to take the document into account when supplying care.

The constitution will be renewed every 10 years and backed by a "handbook" setting out goals and pledges that will be renewed every three years.

Niall Dickson, chief executive of the King's Fund health think-tank, said the big test for the report "will be making this a reality". He noted it contained no costings for the big increase in the collection and publication of data on quality.

Andrew Lansley, the Conservative health spokesman, said he feared that, while centrally dictated targets remained, managers would concentrate on those, not on improving care.