28 July 2016

NHS England – Conflicts of Interests Update

 NHS England has continued to update their conflict of interest policies

[caption id="attachment_5195" align="alignleft" width="150"] Sir Malcolm Grant[/caption]

NHS England has continued to develop its conflicts of interest policies.  NHS England Chairman Sir Malcom Grant has blogged this week about some of the new key principles and potential rules to support this.

A specially constituted group at NHS England has considered various points, including the difference between gifts from patients and gifts from suppliers. At this stage the key principles include

• Staff should not ask for or accept gifts, rewards or hospitality that may affect, or be seen to affect, their professional judgement
• Gifts from patients up to the value of £25 may be accepted and need not be declared
• Gifts from patients over the value of £25 may be accepted and must be declared
• Gifts from suppliers or potential suppliers should be declined with the exception of promotional items of minor value i.e. under £5 which can be accepted and need not be declared.

Sir Malcom said:

“Transparency requires that the external interests of those taking decisions or offering advice or exercising other relevant functions are properly declared, both on a register that is publicly available, and specifically in relation to any item of business that may be arising, for example on an agenda. This is not a static process. People’s circumstances are constantly changing. The register needs to be continually reviewed and updated.”

The full blog by Professor Sir Malcolm Grant CBE, Chairman of NHS England can be found here https://england.nhs.uk/2016/07/rules-on-conflicts-of-interest/. NHS England will run a formal consultation on its proposals early in the autumn.