CMA opens investigation into hospital merger

The Competition and Markets Authority has started an investigation into the proposed merger between NHS hospital trusts in Poole and Bournemouth.

The Competition Commission, which preceded the CMA, prohibited a previous merger between the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in 2013. As a result of this decision, the hospital trusts were required to enter into a 10-year commitment not to merge without the prior approval of the CMA.

However, since that decision, there have been significant changes to policy within the NHS that have affected the role that competition plays. Competition between NHS hospitals is no longer used by the NHS to drive quality, with collaboration often viewed as a better way to meet increasing demands for care and deliver better value.

This has been taken into account in recent hospital mergers reviewed by the CMA, including the merger between Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust, which was cleared in August 2019.

During the investigation, the CMA will work closely with Bournemouth and Poole Hospital trusts, the NHS regulators and local commissioners to assess the role that competition plays in how the hospitals provide services and whether any loss of competition brought about by the merger could have a negative impact on patients.