The NHS Confederation and its NHS Partners Network both welcome the publication of the Office of Health Economics' (OHE) commission report on competition in the NHS and say competition and integration need not be mutually exclusive.
NHS Confederation chief executive Mike Farrar, said:
"We believe the NHS should embrace the use of well-managed and intelligent competition. Properly regulated competition and integrated care do not need to be mutually exclusive.
"Competition should never be an end in itself. Competitive processes need to focus on the improvement of services across the system and ensure that poor providers of care are stamped out. Competition will be a key weapon to help clinical commissioning groups ensure that substandard care is never the only option for their patients.
"Poorly thought through tendering processes risk fragmenting patient care and increasing costs in the long term, even if the specific service being tendered comes in at a lower price.
"Regulation is key to competition being a success. However, it is important that Monitor's new duties do not place an extra burden on NHS organisations. The NHS needs an effective and intelligent regulator that allows space for innovation, new market entrants and service redesign, not unnecessary costs and bureaucracy."
David Worskett, director of the NHS Confederation's NHS Partners Network, added:
"This report takes an informed and balanced view of the benefits that competition can bring to patients and the standards of NHS care they receive.
"As the authors of this report rightly point out, competition does not equate to privatisation. We need to move beyond this debate. Competition is a key means in allowing those responsible for public funds to improve patient care, not the threat which is sometimes suggested.
"Having a range of providers in healthcare is crucial for promoting innovative treatment and spreading best practice. If the NHS turns its back on competition now, it may hinder its response to the huge demographic and financial challenges it faces in the next 20 years.
"Strong economic regulation and quality commissioning will be key to managing competition and integration. We need an effective regulator to ensure that commissioners are compliant with competition rules and act in the best interests of patients and taxpayers to provide seamless care."