Opposition Day — NHS Competition Policy — 5 Feb 2014 at 15:50

The majority of MPs voted for the Government's policies for regulated competition within the NHS.

The motion rejected in this vote was:

• That this House
• is concerned about recent pressure in Accident and Emergency departments and the increase in the number of people attending hospital A&Es since 2009-10;
• notes a recent report by the Care Quality Commission which found that more than half a million people aged 65 and over were admitted as an emergency to hospital with potentially avoidable conditions in the last year;
• believes that better integration to improve care in the home or community can relieve pressure on A&E;
• notes comments made by the Chief Executive of NHS England in oral evidence to the Health Select Committee on 5 November 2013, that the NHS is getting bogged down in a morass of competition law, that this is causing significant cost and that to make integration happen there may need to be legislative change;
• is further concerned that the competition aspects of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 are causing increased costs in the NHS at a time when there is a shortage of A&E doctors; and
• calls on the Government to reverse its changes to NHS competition policy that are holding back the integration needed to help solve the A&E crisis and diverting resources which should be better spent on improving patient care.

During the debate on the motion MP Andy Burnham (Leigh, Labour) illustrated what he meant by "competition policy"^[1]:

• The chief executive of a large NHS trust near here says that he tried to create a partnership with GP practices and social care, but was told by his lawyers that he could not because it was anti-competitive.

The concept of regulated competition in the NHS has been described^[2]:

• Managed competition is a tool of commissioning, employed where it serves the interests of citizens and the choices they wish to make. Different providers will compete for the patient’s choice. But competition must take place in a framework that ensures integration and safeguards choice, quality and patient safety.

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• [1] Andy Burnham MP, (Leigh, Labour), House of Commons, 5 February 2014
• [2] Choice and competition: report from the NHS Future Forum

Debate in Parliament | Source |