The Commons Health and Social Care Select Committee recently
backed NHS England Chief Executive, Simon
Stevens' call to scrap elements of the Health and
Social Care Act 2012. NHS England and NHS Improvement's Board
Papers from 26 September 2019 confirmed that an 'NHS Bill'
should be introduced in the next session of Parliament.
It's a decision that will see long-standing competition
rules swept away, with the aim of heralding in a new streamlined
procurement model and speeding up implementation of the NHS Long
Term Plan.
The proposals, set out by NHS England and NHS Improvement in
February 2019, include revoking regulations made under section 75
of the Health and Social Care Act 2012; removing both the
Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) function to review
mergers of NHS foundation trusts, and the role of NHS Improvement
as competition law enforcer, as well as the need for NHS
Improvement to refer contested licence conditions or national
tariff provisions to
