After section 72 of the National Health Service Act 2006 insert—
NHS trusts and foundation trusts: exemption from merger legislation Exemption from Part 3 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (72A) (1) For the purposes of Part 3 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (mergers), a relevant merger situation is not to be treated as having been created where two or more relevant NHS enterprises cease to be distinct enterprises. (2) But subsection (1) does not apply to a case where two or more relevant NHS enterprises and one or more enterprises that are not relevant NHS enterprises cease to be distinct enterprises. (3) In this section “relevant NHS enterprise” means the activities, or part of the activities, of— (a) an NHS trust established under section 25; (b) an NHS foundation trust.
Omit section 79 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 (competition: mergers involving NHS foundation trusts).