NHS England 28 June 2016
- NHS England has published revised statutory guidance on managing conflicts of interest for CCGs following a public consultation.
- A series of conflicts of interest case studies, templates and short, role-specific summary guides are also available.
- Mandatory online conflicts of interest training is under development and should be ready in autumn 2016.
- Mills and Reeve have highlighted seven key changes to the latest guidance
- CCGs are to have a minimum of three lay members on the governing body.
- New role for conflicts of interest guardian in CCGs.
- CCGs need to adopt a robust process for managing breaches within their conflict of interest policy and there is a requirement for CCGs to publish anonymised details of the breach on the CCG’s website for learning purposes.
- Tighter provisions around decision-making when a member of the governing body, or committee or sub-committee is conflicted.
- Strengthened provisions around the management of gifts and hospitality including a publicly accessible register of gifts and hospitality.
- CCGs need to include an annual audit of conflicts of interest management and to include the findings within their annual end of year governance statement.
- All CCG staff including practice staff, committee members, governing body need to complete NHS England’s mandatory online conflicts of interest training which will be supplemented by training sessions for CCG leads in key decision-making roles.
