Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, in what circumstances NHS organisations are allowed to apply to reinstate merger proposals which have been previously rejected by the Competition and Markets Authority.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has a duty to review mergers and acquisitions involving National Health Service foundation trusts to assess the impact on quality and choice of NHS services to patients. If an NHS proposal has been reviewed and has given undertakings to the CMA relating to its future merger or reorganisation plans, then the NHS foundation trusts can put forward any new proposal to merge services or work jointly for the CMA to consider. The CMA will then consider whether there has been a change in circumstances to justify varying or releasing the undertakings previously given.