Northern, Eastern and Western Devon (NEW Devon) CCG did not breach rules around procuring community services, an investigation by Monitor has concluded.
The investigation was launched after Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust was selected as the preferred provider of community services for adults with complex care needs in east Devon. The Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust, which currently holds the contract to provide community services for the CCG, complained to Monitor about the decision, stating that the process of awarding the contract for community services was 'inadequate and unfair'.
Catherine Davies, executive director of co-operation and competition at Monitor, said: 'Patients are likely to be better off as a result of our investigation because the CCG will do further work before awarding the contract, especially around ensuring value for money.'
However, Monitor concluded that the process used for the awarding the contract was fair and enabled the CCG to select a provider from the available options by reference to its commissioning objectives. The investigation also found that the CCG's process did not breach transparency requirements, there had not been any discriminatory or unequal behaviour towards potential providers, and NEW Devon CCG's process was not affected by conflicts of interest.
Ms Davies added: 'Having set out its vision for community services in the local area, NEW Devon CCG chose between providers in a way that was tailored to its needs. The approach NEW Devon CCG took won't work in all cases, but it shows that commissioners can be flexible in their processes for selecting providers.'