Legislation – The Competition Act 1998 (Health Services for Patients in England) (Coronavirus) (Public Policy Exclusion) Order 2020

New Search

Introduction

1 Citation, commencement and application

2 Interpretation

3 Qualifying activities

4 Exclusion from the Chapter I prohibition

5 End of healthcare disruption period

6 Notification to the Secretary of State

7 Register of agreements

Signature

Explanatory note

Qualifying activities3.

(1)

For the purposes of this Order a qualifying activity is any activity specified in paragraph (2) insofar as it—

(a)

is for the purpose referred to in article 4(2)(a); and

(b)

does not involve the sharing between independent providers of any information regarding costs or pricing.

(2)

The activities specified in this paragraph are—

(a)

information sharing in relation to capacity for providing health services of a particular kind during the healthcare disruption period, including information regarding staff and facilities;

(b)

coordination as regards the deployment of staff between NHS bodies and independent providers or between independent providers during the healthcare disruption period;

(c)

the sharing or loan of facilities for the provision of health services during the healthcare disruption period;

(d)

the joint purchasing of goods, materials, vehicles, plant, apparatus, facilities or services (including the services of staff), for the purpose of the provision of health services during the healthcare disruption period; and

(e)

coordination as regards the provision of health services which involves agreement that during the healthcare disruption period one or more independent providers or NHS bodies are to undertake a particular activity or type of activity either generally or within a particular geographical area, including agreement to limit or expand the scale or range of health services to be or being supplied by one or more independent providers or NHS bodies.