Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency: Conflict of Interests
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many whistleblowing reports relating to conflicts of interest have been submitted within the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in each of the last five years; and whether the Department will publish anonymised summaries of the issues raised.
Answered by Dr Zubir Ahmed
In the last five years, three internal whistleblowing reports relating to conflicts of interest have been made to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) nominated officers.
Nominated officers are trained individuals designated to give confidential advice, support, and guidance on whistleblowing concerns to staff, and to help staff escalate those concerns appropriately. The following table shows the number of whistleblowing reports related to conflicts of interest, from 2021/22 to 2025/26, up to 20 March 2026:
Year | Number of whistleblowing reports related to conflicts of interest |
2021/22 | 0 |
2022/23 | 0 |
2023/24 | 0 |
2024/25 | 0 |
2025/26 | 3 |
There are no requirements or plans to publish summaries of these whistleblowing reports. The MHRA submits data annually to the Cabinet Office on all whistleblowing investigations that have taken place and publishes a short summary of its internal whistleblowing actions, including the number of whistleblowing investigations, in its Annual Report and Accounts.
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