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"Currently anybody who is ordinarily resident in the UK has equal priority when it comes to the allocation of organs for transplant.

"The decision on who receives an available organ is based on clinical need.

"Following this consultation, we will consider the final proposals, in particular any implications of the change in the ordinary residence rule that will exclude anybody who does not have indefinite leave to remain."

Mr Hunt's proposals said annual NHS healthcare costs are £1,600 per person, ranging from just £700 for the healthiest individuals to £6,000 for the very elderly.

"The intention is that the migrant health levy would be set at a fair and appropriate level," the document said.

"It may be appropriate to build in a very limited set of excluded treatments for which specific charging should still apply. These might include ... IVF treatment, cosmetic surgery, organ transplantation (and) services for pre-existing pregnancies."

Dr Clare Gerada, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said the proposals were unethical and "fuelled by hysteria".

She said: "I don't believe there is a problem with 'health tourism' to the extent that the Government has claimed - if someone is suffering renal failure they would usually be too sick to make the journey here, but if a person is here, and they need a transplant, what kind of country would deny them?"

Dr Gerada added: "We are supposed to have a humane health service. The idea that a woman goes into labour and a hospital won't take her unless she has a credit card is something that is really unethical and deeply at odds with our values."

The consultation runs until August 28.