Private and public sectors should face same rules

Two publications from the King's Fund have called for all healthcare systems in the United Kingdom to be subject to the same system of state regulation regardless of whether they are provided by the NHS, the private sector, or voluntary bodies.

In a report, Public-Private Relations in Health Care, academics have warned that the grand idea of improving the health service through public-private partnerships will work only if the government learns from experience and addresses certain difficult questions head on.

Justin Keen, professor of health politics and information management at the Nuffield …