Conflicts of Interest in Healthcare

One of the key concerns of the CHPI is that those involved in both organising and delivering healthcare are focused solely on the interests and well-being of patients.

The NHS was established to prevent doctors and private companies making profits out of healthcare.

This meant that for many years patients in the UK have not had to worry about whether their doctor or hospital might be prioritising their own financial interests ahead of their own patient care.  

These conflicts of interest often happen in other healthcare systems which are run on a for-profit basis such as in the US.

Since the growth of for-profit healthcare in the UK over the past two decades, we have seen growing conflicts of interest in the UK medical profession, with sometimes very bad implications for patient care and trust in the medical profession.

We have carried out a number of major research studies into conflicts of interest in the medical profession and have set out recommendations to protect patients from possible harm.

The NHS is also now using the for-profit healthcare sector to deliver healthcare. This can sometimes mean that those involved in making decisions about healthcare in the NHS can also have a financial interest in some of the companies that deliver care.  These conflicts of interest are a major public interest concern.

In 2021 we produced a major study into conflicts of interest in NHS decision making with Transparency International.

Key Facts

  • 637 – the total number of all medical consultants who own either shares or equipment in the private hospitals to which they refer patients

  • 177 – the total number of NHS medical consultants who own equipment in private hospitals to which they refer patients.

  • 77 – the total number of medical consultants who receive a fee each time the equipment they own is used for treating or diagnosing patients

  • £1.5m - the estimated amount of corporate hospitality paid by 7 private  hospital companies to medical consultants who refer patients to them in the years 2017 and 2018.

Solutions

  • Certain conflicts of Interests should not be managed but prohibited by law

  • Punitive sanctions in the form of fines and in extreme cases custodial sentences should be introduced for any breaches of the law

  • The Care Quality Commission should have the resources to monitor and enforce the law in relation to conflicts of interest.

Reports on Conflicts of Interest in Healthcare

Reports
Mapping joint venture businesses in private healthcare
Mapping joint venture businesses in private healthcare

This analysis maps the network of joint venture businesses between NHS medical consultants and private healthcare companies, building on the CHPI’s 2019 report ‘Pounds for Patients’ which looked at financial incentives and conflicts of interest in the UK’s private healthcare system.

How well are conflicts of interest managed in local NHS commissioning in England?
How well are conflicts of interest managed in local NHS commissioning in England?

This report looks at how changes to the NHS in England over the past decade have created greater risks of abuses of power, and how reforms to local commissioning are exacerbating them. Since 2012, membership organisations made up of General Practitioners (GPs), called Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), have managed most of the NHS’ budget in England. They are responsible for purchasing £78 billion of healthcare services on behalf of the NHS. At the same time, these same GPs are independent contractors to the NHS and are in receipt of around £8.5 billion of NHS funding each year.

Pounds for Patients? How the private hospital sector uses financial incentives to win the business of medical consultants
Pounds for Patients? How the private hospital sector uses financial incentives to win the business of medical consultants

This report has been compiled between May 2018 and May 2019 using publicly available data on the websites of private hospitals, NHS Trusts and Companies House. 

Blogs on Conflicts of Interest in Healthcare