An analysis of the increasing applicability of different laws to the English NHS

What is it about?

The article describes the increased applicability of contract law and EU public procurement and competition law to the English NHS as it was marketized. It demonstrates that the restrictions imposed on NHS policy making by EU laws and GATS have not always been understood by Parliamentarians. Nonetheless, there is a heightened awareness of the potential for international agreements to restrict NHS policy making, evident in public concern regarding TTIP and potential post-Brexit trade deals. In addition, although disputes regarding the NHS are increasingly resolved by, or with reference to, law, it remains highly politicised. Consequently, efforts to depoliticise the NHS through law (national and international) have not succeeded.

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Why is it important?

It demonstrates that historically, the potential of certain laws to restrict NHS policy making has not always been understood or debated by Parliamentarians. Nonetheless, it indicates that there is now a heightened awareness of the potential for international laws to restrict NHS policymaking. Although law can potentially be a means of depoliticising an issue, I argue that it has not succeeded in depoliticising market reforms to the English NHS.