NHS Co-operation and Competition Panel

Broken sign of hospital H

CCP recommends biggest acute merger go ahead despite 'reducing patient choice' Subscription Required

8-Feb-2012 | By

The Co-operation and Competition Panel has recommended England’s biggest hospital merger should be allowed to go ahead - but only because there is no alternative.

Competition panel highlights GP conflict concern

Competition panel highlights GP conflict concern Subscription Required

31-Jan-2012 | By

A primary care trust has been criticised by the Cooperation and Competition Panel for giving GPs leading roles in a decision to close a rival primary care centre.

CCP rules against largest acute merger plan in the country Subscription Required

15-Dec-2011 | By

The Cooperation and Competition Panel has said plans to create the biggest single trust in the NHS would break competition rules.

Circle chief executive Ali Parsa

Private sector faces referral to Competition Commission Subscription Required

13-Dec-2011 | By

The NHS reforms would have “blown up in people’s faces” without last week’s decision to refer the private healthcare market to the Competition Commission, the boss of Circle has told HSJ.

FTs consider merger that would create largest trust Subscription Required

8-Nov-2011 | By

Three London foundation trusts are considering a merger that would create the single biggest trust, with a turnover of £1.9bn.

David Bennett

Bennett warns against 'second guessing' merger rulings Subscription Required

14-Oct-2011 | By

Trusts involved in mergers should not “second guess” Monitor’s decisions or they risk having to “unwind” arrangements at taxpayers’ expense, the regulator’s boss has warned.

Woman in waiting room waiting for appointment

Ban commissioners from setting minimum waiting times - CCP Subscription Required

5-Oct-2011 | By

The Cooperation and Competition Panel has told health secretary Andrew Lansley that commissioners should be banned from setting minimum waiting times for procedures.

CCP puts patient benefit over patient choice in acute merger Subscription Required

30-Sep-2011 | By

The Co-operation and Competition Panel has advised, for the first time, that a merger between two rival providers can go ahead, because the potential benefits outweighed the reduction in patient choice.

Una O'Brien

DH still learning "whether we got it right" with CQC Subscription Required

23-Sep-2011 | By

The permanent secretary to the Department of Health has admitted the regulatory system failed patients and relatives at Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust.

Calculator and spreadsheet

CCP backs commissioners in care home procurement row Subscription Required

15 September 2011 | By

The Cooperation and Competition Panel has ruled against care home associations in two regions after they claimed procurement rules and prices for continuing healthcare were too low.

Hospital sign 'merging' into one

First large hospital merger approved by CCP Subscription Required

31-Aug-2011 | By

A plan to shake up hospital care in Hampshire has become the first merger of large acute trusts to pass a key test designed to enshrine competition in the NHS.

Andrew Lansley

Lansley condemns commissioners as 'cynical' over choice restrictions Subscription Required

29-Jul-2011 | By

Health secretary Andrew Lansley today said primary care trusts “game the system” to “delay treatment”, in response to the Co-operation and Competition Panel’s investigation of choice in elective care.

Surgeons in face masks

Patient operations deliberately delayed, CCP claims Subscription Required

29-Jul-2011 | By The Press Association

Patients are being forced to wait for treatment in the hope they will remove themselves from waiting lists by either going private or dying, a report has suggested.

Co-operation and competition panel director Andrew Taylor

Commissioners 'excessively constraining' patient choice Subscription Required

28-Jul-2011 | By

Commissioners are restricting patient choice and choking competition in routine elective care, the Cooperation and Competition Panel has found.

Paul Burstow

Minister sets out OFT's role in hospital mergers Subscription Required

13-Jul-2011 | By

The Office of Fair Trading will consider most foundation trust mergers under the terms of the Health Bill, it has emerged.

David Cameron and Nick Clegg

Exclusive: ministers set to overrule Future Forum Subscription Required

13-Jun-2011 | By

A new coalition agreement on NHS reform will put the Competition and Co-operation Panel on a statutory footing, leaving Monitor with a duty to “protect and promote patients’ interests”, HSJ understands.

laboratory

Joint pathology venture fairly awarded, CCP decides Subscription Required

26-Apr-2011 | By

A foundation trust did not breach competition principles in selecting a public/private partnership for its pathology services, the NHS market regulator has found.

Lord Howe

Earl Howe orders break-up of North West's 'anti-competitive' four year contract Subscription Required

7-Apr-2011 | By

Health minister Earl Howe has told NHS North West to break up a four year “framework” deal between the region’s specialised commissioning group and mental health service providers.

GP talking to young girl patient

PCT Network responds to choice complaints Subscription Required

31 March 2011

Commissioners accused of breaking competition rules were either abiding by guidance or justified by an obligation to “maximise benefits to patients and taxpayers”, according to the Primary Care Trust Network.

Scientist at work in laboratory

Competition panel to rule on pathology deal Subscription Required

10 March 2011 | By

A foundation trust’s £300m deal with another trust and a private company to outsource pathology services has been challenged under procurement rules.

Office manager working out calculations on paper and calculator

How to avoid legal pitfalls when procuring goods and services Subscription Required

By

Goods and services must be procured by the book if healthcare organisations are to avoid costly challenges. Hill Dickinson LLP partner Mark Fitzgibbon explains.

Children's hands in a circle

Compete or collaborate? The policy dysphoria facing NHS organisations Subscription Required

By

The buzzword in the NHS is collaboration, but with the Health Bill steeped in competition, despite significant amendments, realising integrated care still seems a long way away. It’s time to focus, says Professor Bob Hudson.

What the realities of competition mean for organisations' sustainability Subscription Required

By

While the theory of competition in healthcare drives up quality, the pragmatics mean commissioners should keep a close eye on whether their services remain sustainable in the long term, warns NHS Tameside and Glossop chief executive Tim Riley.

HSJ's reporter Sarah Calkin

Media Watch: deliberate delays report provokes fury in the press Subscription Required

By

The furore over the Cooperation and Competition Panel’s report suggesting primary care trusts were making patients wait longer in the hope they would die or go private was going strong when the weekend papers went to press.

An American flag.

Michael White: the strange landscape of US healthcare Subscription Required

By

Where else but the US should this column spend a few days as punishment for not understanding how inappropriate a mechanism competition is for driving efficiency and innovation in healthcare?

Piles of pound coins

Why competition still has its place in NHS Subscription Required

By

Competition in the NHS is nothing new - and the more measured approach outlined in the Health Bill’s amendments this week will better preparing the health service to fully function with competition working alongside integration, argues Wragge and Co partner Simon Taylor.

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