Healthcare providers have new panel to appeal to against unfair competition

A new body has been created to preside over the fair use of competition in primary care in England.

The Co-operation and Competition Panel is a court of appeal for healthcare providers that believe that a primary care trust has not put services out to tender when it should have done or has not run the tendering process fairly. It began operations at the end of January with the formal job description “to support the delivery to patients and taxpayers of the benefits of competition.”

Private healthcare providers, the voluntary sector, GPs, NHS organisations, and others can appeal to the panel if a complaint about …