Good morning. When the government set about instituting a set of major NHS reforms a decade ago, one senior adviser said they would be a “big opportunity” for the private sector.
For years before that, for-profit companies had been allowed to bid to provide services, but under the new rules, NHS commissioners were allowed to give preferential treatment to internal options if they wanted to. Then health secretary Andrew Lansley’s reorganisation, achieved through the health and social care act, did away with that, outlawing “anti-competitive behaviour” in order to force public and private options to be treated as equal.
