24.08.15
NHS staff must declare gifts from reps or face jail, as Hunt tightens the rules
All NHS organisations will have to declare all gifts or hospitality staff receive from drug companies or face unlimited prosecution and jail time under a new government rule.
The ‘Sunshine rule’, which will be mandatory from next year, will force all members of staff to keep a register of hospitality and gifts from pharmaceutical firms to crackdown on corruption in the state service.
The move by health secretary Jeremy Hunt comes after a Telegraph investigation found “disturbing” evidence of senior medical managers taking “lavish” trips and being paid thousands of pounds by firms wanting their drugs prescribed.
Any member of staff who fails to declare full details of gifts they receive will face disciplinary action, and those guilty of accepting presents or luxury trips in exchange for drug influence within the NHS could be prosecuted under the Bribery Act.
This can result in unlimited fines and up to 10 years in jail.
Hunt said: “Disturbing evidence has come to my attention that small numbers of NHS staff have tried to influence NHS purchasing decisions in turn for payment, gifts or hospitality from pharmaceutical firms and medical device manufacturers.
“This is a complete abuse of their position and will be shocking to the vast majority of staff who want the best for patients. Part of the problem is just how many sales reps are targeting our hospitals, with 65 reps on site at any one time according to a recent report.
“The NHS is indirectly paying for every one of those reps, through staff and the amount paid for drugs and products.”
He added that the solution is greater transparency through tough new rules to “expose improper relationships between staff and pharmaceutical companies”.
“Only those serving their own self-interest should have anything to fear, with patients and taxpayers set to benefit,” he said.
The NHS spends £7bn on drugs each year, yet a report from Lord Carter earlier this year found massive variations in the amounts hospitals pay for the same items.
The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) welcomed the new rule and the opportunity to work with the Department of Health and NHS England to help develop it to ensure maximum combined efforts.
Dr Virginia Acha, ABPI’s executive director, noted that the UK pharmaceutical industry has already been governed by a self-regulated code of practice for over 50 years that “provides a robust framework for acceptable levels of interaction” between firms and healthcare providers in relation to gifts and hospitality.
The Sunshine rule is based on a 2013 American initiative that threatened to prosecute or fire staff involved in bribery.
The Human Medical Regulations 2012 also states that a “person may not, in connection with the promotion of medicinal products to persons qualified to prescribe or supply them, supply offer, or promise any gift, pecuniary advantage or benefit” unless it is cheap and relevant to medicinal practice.