The new NHS competition regulations that came with the Health and Social Care Act 2012, Statutory Instrument (SI) 2013 (257), are about to allow what could equate to the NHS going up for tender. This SI has pushed private sector competitive tendering in the procurement of NHS services into the public domain. These regulations have started their 40-day journey to becoming law. The Health and Social Care Act (2012) has altered the legal climate significantly; indeed, the issue of competition is very clear as seen in regulation 10. From the 1 April, commissioners have been required to advertise new contracts, then judge the bids received based on published criteria. These new regulations have effectively closed down the possibility of awarding a contract without competition.
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