NHS Confederation - NHS Partners Network comments on managing conflicts of interest

22 Sep 2016 10:26 AM

Dr Howard Freeman, Clinical Director of the NHS Partners Network, commented on NHS England’s consultation on Managing Conflicts of Interest in the NHS.

“The independent sector provides increasing amounts of care for NHS patients alongside its private work, operating to the same high standards. We fully recognise the importance of transparency and ensuring that all real and perceived conflicts of interest in the NHS are suitably managed.

“NHS consultants, in their own time, often work in private practice which has a key role in supporting the NHS and helping deliver their waiting times targets. Anything which would deter this from happening would likely have an adverse impact on patient care. 

“A proportionate system of disclosure can be an important contributor to managing conflicts of interest. To get this right, any disclosure regime needs to have a clear purpose and be based on a strong evidence base about why there is a problem to be addressed.”

Managing Conflicts of Interest in the NHS