Eight years after Labour introduced market forces into the NHS the health service is still not seeing the desired returns for its investments, a review of the evidence indicates.

The report from the independent think tank Civitas concludes: “The available research indicates that the NHS may have found itself in a lose-lose situation—taking on the extra costs of competition without experiencing the benefits.”

Introducing market forces into the NHS should have led to better responsiveness of providers to patients and purchasers, to reduced costs, and to innovations in …