12.03.13
Gerada ‘delighted and relieved’ at DH response to competition fears
Campaigners have welcomed the Government’s clarification on competition law and how it affects NHS commissioners.
The were concerns that the NHS (Procurement, Patient Choice and Competition) Regulations 2013 could effectively open up all NHS services to competitive tendering, which a group of more than 1,000 doctors and nurses described as a “nail in the coffin” of the public NHS in a letter earlier this month.
But the DH said that revised regulations, laid before Parliament yesterday, make it crystal clear that CCGs “will not be forced to use competition against the best interests of patients”.
It said: “There is no requirement to put all contracts out to competitive tender. This means that commissioners are able to offer contracts to a single provider where only that provider is capable of providing the services. Monitor – the regulator – has no power to force the competitive tendering of services – so decisions about how and when to introduce competition to improve services are solely up to doctors and nurses in clinical commissioning groups. Competition should not trump integration – commissioners are free to commission an integrated service where it is in the interest of patients.”
Health Minister Lord Howe said: “We have taken concerns about the regulations very seriously and want to put beyond doubt their intended purpose. We have acted quickly to address the issues and lay revised regulations. It has never been and is absolutely not the Government’s intention to make all NHS services subject to competitive tendering or to force competition for services. That would compromise the power and freedom we are giving to local doctors and nurses.”
Dr Peter Carter, chief executive & general secretary of the RCN, said: “We are pleased to see that the Government has listened to, and acted on, the widespread concerns over these regulations.
“It is extremely important that competition does not become a barrier to collaboration and integration. CCGs must be confident that they are able to make decisions based on quality of care and local needs without being forced into tendering processes.
“Every effort must now be made by Monitor and the NHS Commissioning Board to issue guidance on these regulations as quickly as possible to ensure that competition is only used to further enhance integrated and quality care, not undermine it.”
Royal College of GPs chair Dr Clare Gerada said: “We are delighted – and relieved – that the Government has listened to us and responded so quickly and positively.
"We are also grateful to the many individuals and organisations who rallied to support the College after we raised our concerns last week. We now urge the Government to work with us to develop an acceptable set of replacement regulations that will ensure GP commissioners have the freedom to make decisions in the best interests of our patients and in line with the values that have underpinned the NHS for the past 65 years.”
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