Commentary on Sections Part 3 - Regulation of Health and Adult Social Care Services Chapter 2 – Competition
702.This Chapter provides Monitor with powers to protect and promote patients’ interests, by preventing anti-competitive behaviour, by providers, that would harm patients interests’; and by enforcing requirements imposed on commissioners of NHS health care services under regulations made under section 75. Nothing in this Chapter provides power for Monitor to promote competition as an end in itself.
703.To enable Monitor to tackle abuses and restrictions that act against patient interests, these sections give it concurrent powers with the Office of Fair Trading (‘the OFT’) under the Competition Act 1998 (‘the 1998 Act’). This could be used, for example, to allow Monitor to investigate practices by undertakings that might restrict, distort or prevent competition, such as actions to exclude competitors from providing services or agreements to restrict patient choice. It also provides for Monitor to have concurrent functions with the OFT under Part 4 of the Enterprise Act 2002 to refer features of markets for further investigation by the Competition Commission.
704.This Chapter also makes provision about mergers involving NHS foundation trusts and co-operation between Monitor and the OFT.