The health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, defended the privatisation of NHS Logistics today, ahead of possible walkouts by union members during the prime minister's farewell speech to the TUC this afternoon.
Ms Hewitt said the measures would save £1bn over 10 years, after unions yesterday raised the threat of the first strike in the NHS for 18 years.
The PM could face a boisterous reception at his speech this afternoon. Never hugely popular with the rank-and-file delegates, he joked last week that his final appearance at the TUC would be "to the relief of both of us".
His speech is expected to concentrate on wider issues, however, such as migration and terrorism.
Mr Blair, just back from a controversial three-day tour of the Middle East, is expected to say the nation feels "under threat" from terrorism, migration and globalisation.
The theme will be that Britain needs to be "strong and not scared" in the face of rapid change.
In extracts of his speech released this morning, Mr Blair says: "I can sense building up here and around the world the division - not of ideology but of attitude - as to how we deal with the consequences of globalisation.
"What has changed is the interplay between globalisation, migration and terrorism.
He goes on: "Suddenly we feel under threat, physically from this new terrorism that is coming onto our streets, culturally as new waves of migrants change our society and economically because an open world economy is hastening the sharpness of competition."
Mr Blair asks: "Do we embrace the challenge of more open societies or build defences against it?
"We need an approach which is strong and not scared."
The PM will then face a potentially hostile Q&A session after his speech with delegates.
The chancellor, Gordon Brown, will attend a private dinner with TUC leaders tonight.
The most immediately pressing issue at the TUC conference is the imminent strike in the health service over the NHS Logistics sell-off.
Ms Hewitt admitted the sell-off would be "difficult" for the staff of the in-house supply agency of the NHS, but insisted that their terms and conditions would be "comparable" when they transferred to the German-owned DHL company.
Her intervention came after Unison, the largest union in Britain, which represents NHS staff, yesterday announced at the TUC its backing for industrial action in a strike ballot of staff. The union will meet on Friday to decide when the first one-day strike will take place.
It would be the first NHS strike since 1988, when midwives walked out over pay.
Today Ms Hewitt insisted the deal would provide better care for patients.
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that NHS Logistics delivered only about 10% of the supplies provided to the health service.
"We've looked at this extremely carefully and it's quite clear with this new arrangement we are going to be able to save the NHS at least £1bn over the next 10 years," she said.
"That is money that will all go straight into better care for patients.
"And at the same time we've ensured through this new contract that we will protect the terms and conditions of the staff and ensure that they go on getting a pension that's comparable to the NHS as well.
"So we think this is good for the staff, but above all it's going to be good for the NHS and patients.
"The NHS has always been a mixed economy," she added.
The Unison strike is expected to affect hundreds of hospitals across England, with the possibility of supplies of disposable items such as bedpans, hand gel and gloves rapidly running out.
Ms Hewitt rejected the suggestion that the government wanted to privatise all areas of the NHS, arguing that it had always relied on the private and not-for-profit sectors.
"I realise that it is difficult for the staff of NHS Logistics who we are asking to transfer to a private company - although they will continue working for the NHS as part of the NHS and true to its values.
"We are not in fact selling off the business to private shareholders in the way that gas and telecommunications were."
She added: "The central issue here is that it is not driven by ideology."
Unison's head of health, Karen Jennings, said of NHS Logistics: "It is outstanding, it is extraordinary, it is award-winning, and it saves the NHS money.
"And you are hearing right across the NHS, if you want to look at a particular service that works at its best, it is NHS Logistics and that is what is so extraordinary and ruthless about this outsourcing."
Announcing the result of the ballot yesterday, the general secretary of Unison, Dave Prentis, told the TUC in Brighton: "These are not troublemakers, not hardliners, but workers who care deeply about the NHS."
From October 1, DHL - best known for delivering parcels - will supply everything from stationery to bed linen and MRI scanners.
