OFT Announces Market Study Into Private Healthcare

On 14 December 2010, the OFT announced that it is seeking views prior to launching a market study into private healthcare.  The study will examine the nature of competition in the provision of private healthcare, market concentration, barriers to entry, supply-side constraints on consultants and constraints on consumers.
 
In the OFT Scoping Paper in which the OFT outlines the focus of the study, the OFT notes that the private healthcare market includes a range of medical treatments which are mainly privately funded, through medical insurance.  In 2008, the total value of the market for private healthcare in the UK was estimated at more than £5.5 billion.  Private hospitals and clinics accounted for the largest part of the market, generating £3.4 billion in 2008.  Fees to surgeons, anaesthetists and physicians accounted for around £1.6 billion in 2008.