Guidance

Conflicts of interest: guidance for UK NSC stakeholders

Updated 18 March 2024

The following guidance applies to UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) stakeholders and members of the UK NSC and its expert sub-groups.

The guidance does not apply to members of the UK NSC secretariat, which is hosted by the Department of Health and Social Care. Members of the secretariat are bound by the Civil Service Code. See Declaration and management of outside interests in the Civil Service.

1. Your duty

Declarations of interest should capture any conflicts of interest (whether actual, potential or perceived) you have that are related to the UK NSC topic you are participating in.

The duty to declare interests exists throughout the duration of your participation unless the UK NSC confirms otherwise. Any new conflicts must be declared and submitted to the UK NSC as necessary.

The duty to declare applies to you and any organisations or other third parties you represent in relation to the topic.

2. Examples of conflicts

Conflicts of interest can arise from your relationships with organisations or other third parties. Examples include:

• any entity that develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, imports, offers for sale, or sells pharmaceutical products (pharmaceutical company)
• any entity that is engaged directly or indirectly in the owning, operating or managing of healthcare facilities or the provision of healthcare services (healthcare company)
• any non-profit and non-higher education organisations that perform research and development as their main activity (research body)
• an educational institution dedicated to education and research (academic body)
• any entity that provides testing, diagnostics, analysis, or any other medical information on a commercial basis (testing and diagnostics company)

3. How conflicts can arise

Conflicts of interest can arise where:

• you or your organisation(s) have carried out work in relation to the topic – for example, for studies, pilots, trials or research

• you, or the organisation(s) you represent, received in the previous 5 years any direct or indirect funding (including a salary in relation to employment) from third parties

• you, or the organisation(s) you represent, received in the previous 5 years any benefits-in-kind or have been the beneficiary of any intellectual property^{[footnote 1]} and/or knowledge sharing from a third party in relation to any work you or your organisation(s) carried out in relation to the topic

• you are aware of a member of your family, your partner (married, civil partnership or not), or other close personal or professional relationship having received in the previous 5 years any funding, interest or benefit in kind, such as those listed above, from a third party

• you are a member of any voluntary organisation(s) or have received any non-financial professional or personal benefit in the previous 5 years or are aware of a non-financial issue that could affect your perceived objectivity as part of your participation - for example, this could involve being an advocate for a particular group or a member of a lobbying or pressure group with an interest in the work of the UK NSC

The above is not an exhaustive list. It is your responsibility to ensure that any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts are disclosed to the UK NSC prior to your participation.

If you are unsure whether your current or previous circumstances constitute a conflict of interest, you should seek appropriate advice to ensure your continued participation complies with UK NSC polices and those of your own organisation(s). You must notify UK NSC if an actual, potential, or perceived conflict is deemed to be present.

Where any conflict(s) of interest are disclosed at any stage in your participation, the UK NSC will consider, in light of the nature of the conflict(s), any proposed mitigation measures and any other relevant factor(s).

The UK NSC reserves the right to restrict or exclude you from any further participation on the basis of conflict(s) of interest that cannot be mitigated.

1. Intellectual property means patents, utility models, inventions, trade-marks, service marks, logos, design rights (whether registrable or otherwise), applications for any of the foregoing, copyright, database rights, domain names, plant variety rights, know-how, trade or business names, moral rights and other similar rights or obligations whether registrable or not in any country (including but not limited to the United Kingdom) and the right to sue for passing off. ↩