The report, which has taken a year to compile, has identified the main culprits as HCA, BMI, Spire, Ramsay, and Nuffield. These companies account for 70pc of the UK's £5.5bn private healthcare market between them. They could now be forced to sell off up to 20 hospitals to level the playing field.
The Commission also found evidence of cabal-like behaviour in the industry, with many of the private hospital groups running dubious "incentive schemes" to encourage consultants to send patients to particular private hospitals, regardless of clinical need.
"We've seen the existence of a range of incentives which encourage medical professionals to choose facilities on grounds other than price and quality—and we struggle to believe these can be in the interests of patients," said Mr Witcomb
The Commission said up to 20 hospitals will now have to be sold as part of an initiative to stimulate competition.
However, it said that there were still high barriers to entry for new hospital providers because of the costs associated with setting up a new hospital, and the flat demand for private healthcare services in recent years.
To stimulate competition, healthcare providers will be banned from offering incentives "in cash or kind" to doctors and consultants for using their facilities. Measures will also be introduced to prevent so-called "tying and bundling", where hospitals with a monopoly in certain areas use their market power to bully insurers into letting them raise their prices.
HCA has hit back at the CC's over-charging allegations by claiming that 102pc of its profits are reinvested into technology and complex care. "Huge investment by HCA has converted [its hospitals] into world-class centres that patients around the world seek out every day," said HCA International director Keith Biddlestone,
This report is set to cause a lot of financial pain for the healthcare providers in question, beyond the sale of a few hospitals. Paul Saper, CEO of health consultancy LCS International, explained that the traditionally high barriers to entry in this market have affected the valuations of these companies. "If no one can just open up around the corner, people come to the conclusion that they should pay a premium for these businesses. By allowing more competition, that opinion will change pretty quickly."
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