National Audit Office 11 September 2015
- Findings from an investigation into managing conflicts of interest in NHS CCGs.
- The key findings:
- Some 1,300 (41%) of CCG governing body members in position at the time of our analysis in 2014-15 were also GPs, who may, potentially, have made decisions about local health services and have been paid by their CCG for providing them
- The Department recognised the potential for conflicts of interest in the NHS commissioning system and took a proportionate response to managing such conflicts, including by assigning formal roles to relevant bodies
- Almost all CCGs had put in place most key elements of the legislative requirements which help them to prevent and manage conflicts
- During 2014-15, a minority of CCGs had reported they had to manage actual or perceived conflicts of interest.
- Where CCGs reported information about their controls for managing risks of conflicts of interest, it showed the adequacy of those controls had varied
- NHS England has so far collected little data on how effectively CCGs are managing conflicts of interest or whether they are complying with requirements. It relies instead on an exception-based approach, and on Monitor as the system regulator
- Up to June 2015, Monitor had received relatively few concerns about conflicts of interest; only one of its formal investigations included a concern about conflicts of interest in a CCG
- From April 2015, CCGs can choose to co-commission primary care services from GPs which is likely to increase significantly the number and scale of conflicts of interest. The Department and NHS England recognise the risk and have responded, including issuing statutory guidance and providing training and support to CCGs.
