The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 2015-11-17.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the investigation by The Times and the British Medical Journal into conflicts of interest caused by Clinical Commissioning Groups entering into contracts with companies in which one or more of their board members has a financial interest.
Lord Prior of Brampton
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have legal duties under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to manage conflicts of interests when deciding which health services to procure. CCGs must manage any actual or perceived conflicts in a way that is transparent, fair, and protects the integrity of their decision making.
NHS England publishes guidance for CCGs on their responsibility to manage conflicts of interest. CCGs must have regard to this.
Monitor must ensure that CCGs follow National Health Service regulations on procurement, patient choice and competition, and have powers of investigation if these are not followed.
In their recent report ‘Managing conflicts of interest in NHS clinical commissioning groups’ the National Audit Office (NAO) found that CCGs generally had arrangements in place to manage conflicts of interest to reduce the risk of commissioners’ decisions being improperly influenced. A copy of the NAO’s report is attached.
The NAO made recommendations to the Department, NHS England, Monitor and CCGs to strengthen current arrangements and we would expect the bodies concerned to consider these carefully and take appropriate action in response.
Action is already being taken by NHS England including:
– strengthening its CCG assurance processes;
– commissioning an independent audit of conflicts of interest management in ten primary care co-commissioning arrangements, with a review to using the learning to strengthen current arrangements;
– providing training to CCG lay members on management of conflicts of interest in 2015, with more training planned for next year; and,
– reviewing its own internal rules on conflicts of interest and the statutory guidance it issues to CCGs on management of conflicts of interest to ensure that arrangements are robust.
