Ministers are concerned at the number of high profile cases of health workers who have either assaulted or injured patients.

However, the government claims it has no time to introduce primary legislation to tighten regulation.

So instead it is likely to insert a clause into the NHS Modernisation Bill to give the Health Secretary the power to act without the need for legislation.

The new measures will allow professional bodies to ban members found guilty of misconduct from ever practising again in the UK in any capacity.

Such measures already exist for the doctors' regulatory body, the General Medical Council, and the nurses' regulatory body, the UKCC.

However, professional bodies covering other health workers such as physiotherapists, clinical psychologists, occupational and speech therapists and paramedics have no such powers.

Sarah Sleet, director of communications for the Chartered Society for Physiotherapy, said the society "broadly welcomed " the government move as a way to stop practitioners calling themselves physiotherapists even after they have been struck off the professional register.

However, she said there were concerns that the Health Secretary would be given too much power to intervene, and that it was important that the professional bodies should be consulted before any action was taken.

"We have been campaigning for some time for a change to the primary legislation so that the title physiotherapist is protected and no-one can use the title without being properly registered," she said.

"There are relatively few cases where that happens, but they are very serious for the people involved.

"But we do not want a situation where the Secretary of State could introduce unchecked change."

Those professional bodies which already have the power to ban practitioners from practising are fearful that the new powers could be used to compromise self-regulation.

Restrictions are vital

Frank Dobson: could get new powers

Stuart Skyte, head of communications for the UKCC, is worried about too much government intervention.

He said the council had been negotiating with ministers over the introduction of new powers to impose restrictions on practice for nurses who are returning to the register after suspension, and to impose a wider range of sentences.

Mr Skyte said: "We also want to see restrictions and limitations on the power of the Secretary of State to intervene, and to get involved in all aspects of professional self-regulation.

"A Secretary of State should not get involved in individual cases, just like ministers cannot get involved in court cases."

A GMC spokeswoman said: "We have not necessarily got a problem with this proposal because there may be things we want to do which require this kind of power to achieve.

"But we would want there to be proper limits on the power of the Secretary of State."

Ministers are also believed to want to license new professional groups such as perfusionists - the technicians who set up heart and lung machines.

A Department of Health spokeswoman refused to discuss details of the Queen's Speech in advance.