UK: CC announces final decision on hospital trust merger

The UK’s Competition Commission announced early Thursday that it has decided to block the merger between the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

According to a statement, the Commission declared there was not sufficient evidence the merger would be sufficiently beneficial to consumers; rather, the deal would “damage patients’ interest by eliminating competition and choice across a wide range of elective specialties,” the regulator said in its final report summary.

The decision comes after it issued a similar provisional ruling on the deal.

The merger review was the first such review of a deal between two NHS foundation trusts following the enactment of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, which secured the Office of Fair Trading and CC’s roles in reviewing mergers in the healthcare industry.

In a joint statement, the two hospital trusts said they were “deeply disappointed” by the regulator’s ruling.

Full content: Bournemouth Echo

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