28.03.12
Conflicted commissioning
Conflicts of interest in CCGs pose a very serious risk to their ability to effectively commission the best services for patients.
This has been an inherent, obvious and much-discussed problem throughout the health reforms process, but it seems the safeguards, for many, just do not go far enough.
Apart from needing objectivity to ensure decisions is valid, there must be a trusting relationship between the doctors and the public they serve, as well as with individual patients.
If GPs have ulterior motives, this could significantly jeopardise patients’ belief that they are acting with their best interests in mind at all times.
Excluding those GPs who do have shares in private healthcare firms in votes on commissioning services would substantially hinder the groups’ ability to work properly.
So how could this be resolved, allowing the best outcomes to be reached for patients? The needs of the service user must be placed before personal gain that certain doctors could stand to reach.
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