The Health and Social Care Act 2012 paves the way for an extension of competition and market mechanisms in the NHS in England, with more competition for the provision of health services.
To inform these developments, and help evaluate their progress, the Nuffield Trust and the Institute for Fiscal Studies have formed a partnership to conduct a joint research programme that will aim to establish a long-term expertise in the use of competition and market mechanisms in health care – both in the NHS in England and internationally. This is the second report from the programme.

The joint project is entitled “Understanding competition and choice in the NHS”.