• Regulating health care providers & commissioners
• Cooperation and Competition

Cooperation and Competition

To enable us to carry out our role relating to safeguarding choice and preventing anti-competitive behaviour which is against patients' interests, Monitor has established a cooperation and competition directorate.

What does the Cooperation and Competition Directorate do?

Monitor has a number of powers to enable us to protect choice and prevent anti-competitive behaviour. We can:

• apply and enforce sections of the provider licence related to integrated care and choice and competition;
• apply and enforce the Procurement, Patient Choice and Competition Regulations and relevant sections of the Responsibilities and Standing Rules;
• apply and enforce provisions of the Competition Act 1998 and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union that prohibit anti-competitive behaviour; and
• make market investigation references under Part 4 of the Enterprise Act 2002 to the Competition Commission.

We also provide the Office of Fair Trading with advice on matters relating to mergers involving foundation trusts. Find out more about rules governing mergers in the health care sector and Monitor's role.

Structure of the Directorate

Executive Director of Cooperation and Competition is Catherine Davies, who was formerly Director of the Co-operation and Competition Panel ("the CCP").

CCP Panel members continue to provide independent advice to Monitor. The Panel consists of the Chair (Lord Carter of Coles) and a number of part-time members drawn from various backgrounds, including law, economics, business and health care.

During our investigations, we also draw on support from a number of specialist reference groups.