One of the issues that clinical commissioning groups will need to get to grips with as they become statutory bodies and take on financial and contractual responsibilities is how they will manage real and perceived conflicts of interest facing the individuals involved in their governance and decision making.
This paper summarises the key points that have emerged from our conversations so far with commissioners, providers, regulators and professional bodies. It also sets out some draft principles that clinical commissioning groups might adopt when developing local policies for managing conflicts of interest, and some outstanding policy questions that we feel require further consideration and debate.