Help inform our response to monitor: Guidance on procurement, patient choice and competition in England

This briefing gives an overview of a suite of consultations from Monitor including guidance for commissioners on when to use competition. Monitor, as the new sector regulator for the NHS in England has particular responsibilities in enforcing new regulations on procurement, patient choice and competition ('Section 75' regulations). We want to hear from you about whether you think that the guidance is clear, whether it provides sufficient reassurance that patients will be at the heart of decisions to use competition or not, and whether services risk becoming fragmented. Please contact leela.barham@rcn.org by 21 June 2013 to feed into the RCN's response. 

Because of the principles-based approach that Monitor has taken, the real impact of the guidance and new system will not be known until we have seen them working in practice. The flexibility of the guidance means that Monitor could interpret it in different ways at different times. The RCN will therefore look closely at what action Monitor takes.

For further information, please email papa.ukintl.dept@rcn.org.uk