Lord Carter of Coles is to be the first chair and director of the NHS Co-operation and Competition Panel.

Health minister Ben Bradshaw announced the appointment at a speech to the Confederation of British Industry last week, where he signalled the Department of Health's continued commitment to the market in healthcare.

He described the panel, which will ensure competition between NHS and independent services is fair and transparent, as "the NHS's own version of the Competition Commission". He added: "Such an important organisation needs a strong leader at the helm."

Pathology review

Lord Carter founded private healthcare provider Westminster Healthcare in 1985 and led an independent review of NHS pathology services in 2005. He chaired Sport England from 2002-06.

NHS Partners Network director David Worskett welcomed the Labour peer's appointment, saying he brought a breadth of experience to the issues from both a public and private sector perspective. But he warned Lord Carter faced a challenge in integrating market ideologies into the NHS. "It would be foolish to underestimate the fact that there will be difficult issues - challenges - which the sector isn't used to," Mr Worskett said.

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