Monitor needs to counter anti-competition arguments

The Health Service Journal (£) has reported that Monitor’s Chief Executive David Bennett has said that the regulator was “struggling” to counter the arguments of influential commentators opposed to competition, who claim that it prevents changes, despite the regulator having issued guidance on the subject over the past year.  Bennett stressed the need for the organisation to develop a message countering negative perceptions of competition and suggested that this could be done through strengthening the regulator’s regional teams, as this could facilitate engagement with local stakeholders. He concluded that sometimes organisations use competition rules as an excuse for not making necessary changes, commenting that “it is an easy excuse”.