Between ‘going private’ and ‘NHS privatisation’: patient choice, competition reforms and the relationship between the NHS and private healthcare in England

Abstract

AbstractPatient choice in the context of National Health Service (NHS) reforms in England can refer to the law and policy underpinning patient movement between the NHS and private healthcare sector (in existence since the introduction of the NHS in 1948), as well as recent competition reforms of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, the National Health Service (Procurement, Patient Choice and Competition) (No 2) Regulations 2013 and the 2014 Private Healthcare Market Investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). This paper highlights the existence of two discrete, yet related frameworks: the ‘NHS patient – private patient’ framework based on Department of Health, NHS England and latterly Clinical Commissioning Group policy, and the ‘NHS patient choice’ framework, derived from New Labour choice and competition policies and subsequently enshrined by the 2012 Act reforms. The juxtaposition of these frameworks underscores the symbiotic relationship between the NHS and private healthcare, which raises questions about the fitness for purpose of current policy. It also helps explain why the competition reforms are difficult to implement, and suggests that the knitting together of patient choice and competition may unravel following the 2012 Act reforms and CMA private healthcare market development.