London's dominant private hospital operator, HCA, could still be forced to sell at least one of its prestige centres in the capital despite it emerging today that the competition watchdog got its sums wrong.
The Competition & Markets Authority had demanded that the US group make a choice between selling the London Bridge and Princess Grace hospitals or the 266-bed Wellington Hospital.
Roger Witcomb, the chairman of its two-year inquiry, argued that the private healthcare market was so badly run that patients were overcharged by more than £190 million per annum. HCA, with seven London hospitals, was eventually singled out.
However, reports today said the regulator had conceded its economists had got their modelling wrong when they had calculated the group’s prices were significantly higher than a competitor because of its share of the London market.
Forced to take back their decision, this means that no sell-offs are currently necessary.
But a source close to the inquiry warned that “this isn’t the end of the story”.
A competition expert pointed out that the CMA could move to re-do its work, as there is a precedent after some of the investigation into airports competition was reviewed when a conflict of interest in the inquiry team was challenged.
A spokesman for the CMA declined to comment.
