NHS procurement, choice and competition: ask a question or make a complaint
If you have a query about NHS procurement, choice or competition, Monitor is happy to speak to you informally or formally. Please call to discuss your situation and available options.
Applies to England
Overview
As a patient, healthcare provider, commissioner, patient group, or representative body, you may contact Monitor for informal advice, or to make a formal complaint, about NHS procurement, choice and competition in the NHS.
You can contact Monitor to raise your concerns if you think that:
- an NHS commissioner may have breached or is going to breach the procurement, patient choice and competition regulations
- a licensed healthcare provider may have breached or is going to breach the choice or competition conditions of the provider licence
- a provider of healthcare services in England may be infringing or is about to infringe competition law
- a particular aspect of the healthcare sector in England is not working well for patients
Monitor encourages any person wishing to make a formal complaint to Monitor to first get in touch with us and discuss the complaint.
Types of queries and complaints
Informal advice
You should consider contacting Monitor for informal advice if:
- you have a question about how the procurement, patient choice and competition rules are likely to be applied in certain circumstances
- you are thinking of making a formal complaint to Monitor’s co-operation and competition team
- you wish to discuss whether to request informal advice
- you have any query or concern about any part of patient choice and competition
Formal complaints
Anyone may contact Monitor to raise their concerns. A complaint could be made by a healthcare provider, a commissioner, a patient group, a representative body, or an individual patient.
Advice before making a complaint
Monitor encourages any person wishing to make a formal complaint to get in touch first to discuss the complaint.
To do so, please email: enquiries@improvement.nhs.uk
Guidance on formal complaints
If you choose to make a formal complaint, Monitor needs certain information to decide whether to investigate the complaint. Therefore, after speaking to us, you may need to send the following details:
- name, address, telephone number and email address of the organisation or person who is making the complaint
- name and job title of anyone authorised to represent the organisation or person making the complaint
- contact details of the organisations or people the complaint is against
- a statement of how the relevant rules have been broken and any supporting evidence
- an explanation of how your business has been affected and/or how people who use healthcare services have been adversely affected
- a description of the services involved
- an outline of the relationship between you and the organisations or people the complaint is against
- a timeline of relevant events
Contact details
Enquiries, complaints and whistleblowing team
NHS Improvement
Wellington House
133-155 Waterloo Road
London
SE1 8UG
Email: enquiries@improvement.nhs.uk
Telephone: 020 3747 0900
Next steps
Within 3 working days of receiving your complaint, Monitor will be in touch to acknowledge receipt and outline next steps.
Monitor decides whether to investigate complaints on a case by case basis, following the principles outlined in the Enforcement Guidance on the Procurement, Patient Choice and Competition Regulations.