NHS exempt from EU procurement and competition law?

According to Richard Vise, writing in the Guardian a labour government would repeal the Health and Social Care Act 2012 in the first Queen’s speech and block most use of the private sector by replacing competition with an “NHS preferred provider” policy. This would remove the role of regulator Monitor and the Competition and Markets Authority in policing competition within the NHS. Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham has pledged to exempt the NHS from domestic and EU procurement and competition law. However in an interview with The House, the magazine for MPs and peers, shadow health minister, Liz Kendall gave a subtly different interpretation of health priorities. Kendall emphasised the power of personal budgets to allow patients to build services around their needs; they were not mentioned in Labour’s plan. She also highlighted the importance of the private sector in challenging existing ways of working.

According to Vise, "The Conservatives don’t want to fight on this territory at all; their interest is in closing down debate on the NHS and focusing on the economy. Health does not feature in their top six election priorities."

"The Liberal Democrats, meanwhile, have allied themselves to NHS England’s Five Year Forward View by promising to meet the £8bn funding gap it identifies, while placing its health policies in the context of wider public sector reforms and increased local control. The Lib Dems would loosen the requirements around tendering services, and keep the Competition and Markets Authority out of NHS mergers."

An interesting article in the Guardian, touching on how your vote might effect the fundementals of procurement policy in the NHS, post the May General election.... to read more...