Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Earl Howe on 24 April (Official Report, col. 1508), whether NHS commissioners have general discretion in deciding “whether, where and how competition in service provision should be introduced”, notwithstanding Regulation 5 of the National Health Service (Procurement, Patient Choice and Competition) (No. 2) Regulations 2013.[HL250]
Answer
It is entirely for commissioners to decide whether, where and how to introduce competition by enabling the conditions needed to stimulate or create a market for services. In particular, there is no requirement under the regulations to unbundle services in order to facilitate competition.
It is also for commissioners to decide where to introduce, competition within a market, for example, by extending patient choice of any qualified provider to a particular service.