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About Monitor and the NHS payment system

As the sector regulator for health services in England, Monitor’s job is to make the health sector work better for patients.

Our responsibilities

Within England, we make sure:

  • independent NHS foundation trusts are well-led so that they can provide quality care on a sustainable basis
  • essential services are maintained if a provider gets into serious difficulties
  • the NHS payment system promotes quality and efficiency
  • procurement, choice and competition operate in the best interests of patients

We are committed to preserving the values of the NHS as a universal health service, free at the point of use, as set out in the NHS Constitution.

You can find out more in our strategy or by reading this short leaflet.

About the NHS payment system

Monitor and NHS England took on responsibility for the NHS payment system from the Department of Health following the introduction of the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

Objectives

The payment system aims to help NHS commissioners and providers improve services for patients in 3 ways:

  • by offering more freedom, to encourage the development of new service models
  • by providing greater financial certainty, to help NHS providers and commissioners plan better
  • by maintaining incentives to provide care more efficiently

Find out more

In December 2014, Monitor and NHS England set out plans for the long-term reform of the NHS payment system. It describes how the NHS payment system could begin to look from 2020.

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