Privately funded ophthalmology services
The CMA has found that a private hospital group and 7 ophthalmologists infringed competition law and has imposed fines of over £1.2m.
Case Reference: 50782-1
Case timetable
| Date | Action |
|---|---|
| 15 July 2020 | Non-confidential infringement decision published |
| 1 July 2020 | Infringement decision issued |
| 1 July 2020 | Settlement announced |
| 9 June 2020 | Statement of Objections issued |
| April 2020 | Investigation continuing (further update by the end of July 2020) |
| November 2019 | Decision taken to proceed with the investigation (further update by the end of March 2020) |
| July 2019 | Initial investigation: information gathering, including issue of information requests and review of parties’ responses |
Non-confidential infringement decision
15 July 2020: The CMA has published a non-confidential version of the decision in this case.
- (15.7.20)
Settlement, Statement of Objections and Infringement Decision
1 July 2020: The CMA issued a decision finding that Spire Healthcare Limited and its parent company, Spire Healthcare Group plc (Spire) and 7 consultant ophthalmologists have infringed competition law by taking part in illegal price fixing of initial consultation fees for self-pay patients at a hospital in the north of England.
The CMA imposed fines totalling over £1.2 million on Spire and 6 ophthalmologists which includes a 20% settlement discount to reflect they admitted their role in the infringement and agreed to cooperate with the CMA.
No fine has been imposed on one of the consultant ophthalmologists as he brought the illegal activity to the CMA’s attention, admitted his participation and fully cooperated with its investigation under the CMA’s leniency programme.
The CMA infringement decision follows a Statement of Objections issued to the parties on 9 June 2020.
- Press release: Over £1.2m in fines following CMA private eyecare probe (1.7.20)
Case information
On 3 July 2019, the CMA launched an investigation into suspected anti-competitive arrangements in relation to the private healthcare sector in the UK which may infringe Chapter I of the Competition Act 1998 (CA98).
No assumption should be made at this stage that the CA98 has been infringed. The CMA has not reached a view as to whether there is sufficient evidence of an infringement of competition law for it to issue a statement of objections to any of the parties under investigation. Not all cases result in the CMA issuing a statement of objections.
If the CMA issues a statement of objections, it will provide the addressee(s) of that statement of objections with an opportunity to make written and oral representations. See here for further detail of the CMA’s Procedures in Competition Act cases.
This case is not linked to the CMA’s prior private healthcare market investigation
Contacts
Investigation team leader, Ashley Wakeman (ashley.wakeman@cma.gov.uk)
Assistant project director, Kwadjo Adjepong (kwadjo.adjepong@cma.gov.uk)
Project director, Louise Banér (louise.baner@cma.gov.uk)
Senior responsible officer, Howard Cartlidge (howard.cartlidge@cma.gov.uk)
Updates to this page
Last updated 15 July 2020 + show all updates
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A non-confidential version of the infringement decision published.
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The CMA has issued a decision finding that Spire Healthcare Limited and its parent company, Spire Healthcare Group plc and 7 consultant ophthalmologists have infringed competition law by taking part in illegal price fixing of initial consultation fees for self-pay patients at a hospital in the north of England.
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Case timetable updated.
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Case timetable updated.
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First published.