Proposals that the NHS should for the first time pay for quality - giving hospitals more if patients report a good outcome from treatment - were given a warm welcome yesterday by the private sector, a somewhat more cautious one by doctors' leaders but enthusiastic backing by Monitor, the foundation trust regulator.

Under proposals announ-ced by Gordon Brown, the "tariff" - or price that hospitals are paid per procedure - "will be adjusted according to patient satisfaction and health outcomes".