BMA calls on government to abandon price based competition in NHS

The BMA’s General Practitioners Committee yesterday called on the government to abandon its proposed move to competition on the basis of price in the NHS in England, saying that it would affect the quality of care.

The government introduced the concept of price competition in the NHS in its NHS Operating Framework for 2011-12, published in December (BMJ 2010;341:c7366, 21 Dec, doi:10.1136/bmj.c7366). One clause of the framework said, “One new flexibility being introduced in 2011-12 is the opportunity for providers to offer services to commissioners at less than the published mandatory tariff price, where both commissioner and provider agree.”

The idea also …