NHS: Procurement

National Health Service trusts, foundation trusts and integrated care boards are required to comply with robust national frameworks for managing conflicts of interest, including in relation to procurement decisions.

NHS England’s statutory guidance, Managing conflicts of interest in the NHS, requires organisations to maintain policies and registers of interests, and ensure that all relevant individuals declare and appropriately manage any actual, potential or perceived conflicts. This includes requirements to act with integrity and transparency, declare relevant interests, and withdraw from decision-making where a conflict could affect impartiality or be perceived to do so. The guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/managing-conflicts-of-interest-in-the-nhs/

These arrangements are supported by local standards of business conduct policies and governance requirements, including maintaining auditable records and ensuring transparency in decision making.

These requirements are supported by the the NHS provider Code of Governance and local standards of business conduct policies. In addition, NHS procurement is subject to the Procurement Act 2023, which requires contracting authorities to identify, manage and mitigate conflicts of interest throughout procurement processes.

Together, these safeguards help ensure that evaluation and procurement decisions are made fairly, transparently and in the best interests of patients and taxpayers.

In accordance with national guidance, records for interest declarations made at an NHS trust level are held by that trust.