Guardian News and Media/London

The lobbying firm founded by the Tories’ chief election strategist, Lynton Crosby, advised private healthcare providers on how to exploit perceived “failings” in the NHS, according to a leaked document obtained by the Guardian.

The existence of the presentation by Crosby Textor to the H5 Private Healthcare Alliance will add to pressure on David Cameron, who on Sunday declined once again to say whether he discussed tobacco policy with Crosby, whose company advises Philip Morris International.

Labour warned of a “shocking conflict of interest” involving the man charged with running the Tory general election campaign.

The leaked document which consists of slides from a presentation show that Crosby Textor advised the H5 Private Healthcare Alliance on how to promote themselves amid a highly sensitive debate on the future of the NHS.

The slides state that people believe the NHS provides good healthcare, though they believe it has “failings” and is “too bureaucratic with long waiting lists”.

Crosby Textor advised its clients that 63% of those questioned in a poll conducted for the presentation believed that “going private frees up the NHS waiting list”.

The H5 Private Healthcare Alliance advised by Crosby Textor was an umbrella group for private healthcare providers established in December 2010 before the publication of the government’s highly controversial health and social care bill.

The bill devolved commissioning powers to GPs and relaxed the rules for private providers, though the initial plans were tightened under pressure from the Liberal Democrats.

Crosby Textor, which conducts polls on behalf of clients to help them develop a “powerful strategy focused on the most persuadable ‘swing’ targets”, found overwhelming support for private healthcare providers in a survey carried out for the H5 Alliance.

It found that 59% of those polled agreed with the proposition: “In the end, it does not matter if we have a taxpayer-funded health system or a private healthcare system, as long as people get the best available healthcare.”

The presentation then included quotes about the NHS, believed to be some of the 1,007 people polled on behalf of Crosby Textor. One person said: “We need to try something new because the current system isn’t working.” Another said: “I think the present system is exhausted.”

In the presentation, Crosby Textor advised its private healthcare clients that members of the public take a pragmatic approach to the provision of healthcare.

It said: “The public have no ideological objection to private healthcare and don’t object to people using it if they can afford it. Private healthcare is an aspiration for the majority of people. They are put off by perceived high costs, not dogma. The British people are proud of the NHS, but also supportive of a role for private hospitals in Britain’s overall healthcare system.”

The presentation was made by Crosby Textor, known as CTF Partners in Britain, towards the end of 2010.

This was months before the health and social care bill was given its second reading in the House of Commons in January 2011.

The publication of the bill was delayed from late 2010 -  the time of the Crosby Textor presentation - amid concerns in Downing Street that the then health secretary, Andrew Lansley, had failed to think through his plans to devolve commissioning powers to GPs.

The Liberal Democrats later forced a lengthy “pause” in the bill amid fears that it would boost the role of private providers.