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Commissioning and the NHS

In all the discussions about the NHS it does appear that one thing is clear. We need to avoid the NHS being subject to EU Competition Law. This is the argument I have been putting. The danger is that commissioners are forced to accept tenders that they don't want to accept because of external pressure. It is that key distinction that changes the system from as it has been described as an internal market to an external market.

I do think progress is being made on this issue. However, cast iron certainty is needed for the bill to progress (which in part is why it is currently parked in a siding).

Comments

paulleake said…
The repeated response from ministers is that competition law (EU or otherwise) is not being extended to health, which seems a red herring.

Is there any clarity at all on whether changes to the way health is commissioned would move it within the scope of competition law _as it now stands_?
9:58 am
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