Gifts and Hospitality Policy

Transcription

1 Gifts and Hospitality Policy UNIQUE REFERENCE NUMBER: AC/XX/005/V1.2 DOCUMENT STATUS: Approved by Audit Committee 19 June 2013 DATE ISSUED: June 2013 DATE TO BE REVIEWED: July P age

2 AMENDMENT HISTORY VERSION DATE AMENDMENT HISTORY AC/XX/005/D1 11 April 2013 Draft from Paul Capener to CCG for comment AC/XX/005/D2 17 April 2013 Further draft from PC following feedback AC/XX/005/D3 5 June 2013 Advice from Chris Bird regarding legal advice in respect of sponsorship of meetings AC/XX/005/D4 12 June 2013 Final draft from Paul Capener AC/XX/005/V1 19 June 2013 Version approved by Audit Committee 19 June 2013 AC/XX/005/V1.1 December 2013 Addition of branding and formatting changes in line with Policy for Policy Development AC/XX/005/V1.2 February 2014 Addition of unique reference number prior to publication REVIEWERS NAME DATE TITLE/RESPONSIBILITY VERSION S Johnson April 2013 Deputy Chief Finance Officer D1 M Hartland April 2013 Chief Finance Officer D1 Paul Capener April and June Interim Governance Support D1/D2/D Chris Bird June 2013 Corporate Affairs Lead / Senior Information D3 Risk Officer, CSU Julia Dixon June 2013 Staff Side V1 APPROVALS This document has been approved by: NAME DATE TITLE/RESPONSIBILITY VERSION CCG Audit 19 June 2013 Delegated authority from the Board. V1 Committee NB: The version of this policy used on the intranet must be a PDF copy of the approved version. DOCUMENT STATUS This is a controlled document. Whilst this document may be printed, the electronic version posted on the intranet is the controlled copy. Any printed copies of the document are not controlled. RELATED DOCUMENTS These documents will provide additional information: REFERENCE NUMBER DOCUMENT TITLE VERSION APPLICABLE LEGISLATION Bribery Act 2010 Fraud Act Medicines (Advertising) Regulations P age

3 GLOSSARY OF TERMS TERM ACRONYM DEFINITION 3 P age

4 CONTENTS PAGE NO POLICY OVERVIEW Introduction and Purpose Who this Policy applies to 5 THE POLICY 3.0 Acceptance of Gifts by way of Inducements or Rewards Receipt and Provision of Hospitality Appendix 1 Register for the Receipt of Gifts and provision and receipt of Hospitality 4 P age

5 POLICY OVERVIEW 1.0 Introduction and Purpose The aim of this policy is to protect both the group and the individuals involved from any appearance of impropriety and/or inducement in the conduct of the Group s business. 2.0 Who this Policy applies to 2.1 This policy applies to the Group s member practices and their GPs/employees; individuals on the Group s Governing Body and its Committees; employees of the Group and third parties acting on behalf of the Group (for example, the Commissioning Support Unit). These are collectively referred to as individuals thereafter. 2.2 Where aspects of the policy apply only to specific groups (such as directly employed staff or office holders), and not all individuals, then this will be indicated accordingly. THE POLICY 3.0 Acceptance of Gifts by way of Inducements or Rewards 3.1 Bribery Prior to 1 st July 2011, under the Prevention of Corruption Acts 1906 and 1916, it was an offence for individuals corruptly to accept any gifts or consideration as an inducement or reward for: Doing, or refraining from doing, anything in their official capacity, or Showing favour or disfavour to any person in their official capacity. Corruption is generally considered to be an umbrella term covering such various activities as bribery, corrupt preferential treatment, kickbacks, cronyism or embezzlement. From 1 st July 2011, the Bribery Act 2010 ( the Act ) has updated UK law by making it a criminal offence to: Offer, promise or give a bribe (section 1; and/or, Request, agree to receive, or accept a bribe (section 2). Under the 2010 Act, bribery is now a series of public offences. Bribery is defined as: an inducement or reward offered, promised or provided to someone to perform their functions or activities improperly in order to gain a personal, commercial, regulatory and/or contractual advantage. A bribe does not have to be in cash; it may be the awarding of a contract, the provision of gifts, hospitality, sponsorship, the promise of work or some other benefit. The persons making and receiving the bribe may be acting on behalf of others under the Bribery Act 2010 all parties involved may be prosecuted for a bribery offence. The Act is also extra-territorial in nature. This means that anyone involved in bribery activity overseas may be liable to prosecution in the UK if the bribe is in respect of any UK activity, contract or organisation. To this end, the Act also includes an offence of bribing a foreign public official (section 6). 5 P age

6 The Act also introduces the new corporate offence (section 7) of the failure of relevant commercial organisations to prevent bribery. The Department of Health legal service has stated that NHS bodies are deemed to be relevant commercial organisations to which the Act applies. As a result, an NHS body may be held liable (and punished with a potentially unlimited fine) when someone associated with it bribes another in order to get, keep or retain business for the organisation. However, the organisation will have a defence, and avoid prosecution, if it can show it had adequate procedures in place designed to prevent bribery. Finally, under section 14 of the Act, a senior officer of the organisation would also be liable for prosecution if they consented to or connived in a bribery offence carried out by another. Under such circumstances, the senior officer may be prosecuted for a parallel offence to that brought against the primary perpetrator. Furthermore, the organisation could also be subject to an unlimited fine because of the senior officer consent or connivance. The Bribery Act is applicable to NHS organisations including NHS Dudley CCG and, consequently, it also applies to (and can be triggered by) everyone associated with the Group who performs services for, or on behalf of it, or who provides it with goods or facilities. This includes those who work for, or on behalf of it, such as employees, officers, members, agents, subsidiaries, contractors and suppliers (regardless of whether they are incorporated or not). The term associated persons has an intentionally wide interpretation under the Act. The Group adopts a zero tolerance attitude towards bribery and does not, and will not, pay or accept bribes or offers of inducement to or from anyone, for any purpose. The Group is fully committed to the objective of prevent bribery and will ensure that adequate procedures, which are proportionate to our risks, are in place to prevent bribery and which will be regularly reviewed. We will, in conjunction with NHS Protect, seek to obtain the strongest penalties, including criminal prosecution, disciplinary and/or civil sanctions, against anyone associated with the Group who is found to be involved in any bribery or corruption activities. As with the Fraud Act, a conviction under the Bribery Act may ultimately result in an unlimited fine and/or custodial sentence of up to 10 years imprisonment. 3.2 Gifts and Inducements In the environment in which the NHS operates, it is potentially possible for individuals to gain personal benefits from their position within the Group. Examples of this might be:- Offers of gifts from patients or suppliers Offers of hospitality from potential suppliers to the Group (suppliers covers services as well as goods); Offers from suppliers to an individual to purchase goods at discount or special prices Items provided on long term or permanent loan to a doctor or practice should also be regarded as gifts and are subject to the requirements of this policy. No gift, benefit in kind or pecuniary advantage shall be solicited by, or received or given to, members of the health professions or to administration staff as an inducement to prescribe, supply, administer or buy any medicine. In this respect any offers to an individual allowing purchase, from suppliers to the Group, at discount or special prices should be refused and names of suppliers involved should be notified to the Chief Finance Officer. Gifts in the form of promotional aids and prizes, whether related to a particular product or general utility, may be distributed to members of the health professions and to appropriate 6 P age

7 administrative staff, provided that the gift or prize is inexpensive and relevant to the practice of their profession or employment. In these circumstances an inexpensive gift means one which has cost no more than (excluding VAT). Examples of acceptable gifts include pens, diaries, calendars, etc. Specifically in the case of Pharmaceutical Companies, GP members and their employees should be aware of the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) code of practice which clearly sets out the industry standard. The Medicines (Advertising) Regulations 1994 highlights potential criminal offences relating to the offering or accepting of inappropriate inducements and hospitality. Any cash or cash equivalents (e.g. gift tokens) received, no matter how small, should be passed on to Chief Finance Officer. Cash can be paid to an agreed charity if it is not appropriate to return it, and tokens can be used for the benefit of all staff for a purpose agreed by the Governing Body. 3.3 Casual Gifts Casual gifts offered by contractors, patients or others, e.g. at Christmas time, may not be in any way connected with performance of duties so as to constitute an offence under the Bribery Act. Such gifts should, nevertheless, be politely but firmly refused, and recorded, subject to the guidance below. Articles of low intrinsic value such as diaries or calendars, or small tokens of gratitude from patients or their relatives, need not necessarily be refused. (Intrinsic value is regarded at excluding VAT). Particular consideration should, however, be given to the risk of casual gifts being repeatedly offered from a particular source in any 12 month period. Any gifts received, other than those of intrinsic value, will be given to the individual for whom they are intended. That individual should acknowledge receipt of the gift and inform the donor that the item cannot be received personally, but agree an appropriate way to ensure that all individuals benefit from the gift (e.g. raffle it off in a raffle open to all). A record of casual gifts received should be included on the Receipt of Gifts and Provision and Receipt of Hospitality register (Appendix 1). This is the responsibility of the individual taking receipt of the gift. A record should also be kept of offers of gifts that are refused (e.g. because of their nature and/or value). 4.0 Receipt and Provision of Hospitality 4.1 Giving of Hospitality This policy only applies to hospitality funded from the Group s own resources. Hospitality should not be considered as the norm when conducting business. It should only be provided when necessary and where there is a clear business reason. It is not justifiable to provide hospitality solely to reciprocate hospitality received on some previous occasion. With the exception of Governing Body meetings and Group staff development and training events that span across a lunch break, food should not be provided from Group resources at meetings attended solely by individuals of the Group. Meetings that involve visitors (i.e. individuals external to the Group) can be provided with appropriate refreshments/food at the discretion and authorisation of the senior manager concerned. 4.2 Receipt of Hospitality 7 P age

8 Hospitality is an influential marketing activity. Modest hospitality provided it is normal and reasonable in the circumstances (e.g. lunches in the course of working visits) may be acceptable. Pharmaceutical companies are permitted to provide appropriate hospitality to members of the health professions and appropriate administrative staff in association with scientific and promotional meetings, scientific congresses and other such meetings. Hospitality must be secondary to the business purpose of the meeting. The level of hospitality offered must be appropriate and not out of proportion to the occasion and the costs involved must not exceed that level which the recipients would normally adopt when paying for themselves. It must not extend beyond members of the health professions or appropriate administrative staff. For the avoidance of doubt, it is not permitted to accept hospitality at Group locality meetings, since the primary purpose of these meetings should be locality business. The provision of hospitality includes the payment of reasonable, actual travel costs that a company may provide to sponsor a delegate to attend a meeting. The payment of travel expenses and the like for persons accompanying the delegate is not permitted. The payment of reasonable honoraria and reimbursement of out of pocket expenses, including travel, for speakers, is permissible provided prior authorisation is obtained from the Chief Finance Officer or his nominated representative. Individuals should be ever mindful of the potential position they find themselves and the group in, when inappropriate or excessive hospitality is offered. Integrity and honesty must be maintained at all times. Individuals should ask themselves the question as to whether the hospitality offered could be construed as an inducement, or improper reward for expending NHS resources with a particular company, or in a particular manner. Apply the Newspaper Test would the average person feel embarrassed or compromised if they read about the hospitality they had offered (or received) in a newspaper? Individuals should decline all offers of hospitality or entertainment not considered reasonable and falling within the guidelines referred to above. For example, attendance at hospitality events that are wholly or mainly of a social or sporting nature is deemed to be unacceptable. Where there are exceptional circumstances, or if any doubt exists, individuals should seek the advice of the Chief Finance Officer or Deputy Chief Finance Officer. 4.3 Approval, Disclosure and Recording of Hospitality Given and Received Any hospitality given by an individual should be duly recorded in the Register for the Receipt of Gifts and Provision and Receipt of Hospitality. This should record the approving manager/chief Officer s name. Any hospitality or entertainment offered to an individual during the performance of his/her official duties should be disclosed to the Chief Finance Officer (or his nominated authorising officer) for approval before acceptance and before an entry is made in the register provided for this purpose. Regardless of whether approval is given, the hospitality offered/received must be recorded in the Register for the Receipt of Casual Gifts and provision and Receipt of Hospitality. In certain circumstances it may be necessary to make an immediate decision regarding an offer of a gift or hospitality, and prior authorisation may not be possible. On such 8 P age

9 occasions, the circumstances and reasons for the action taken should be reported at the first opportunity to the Chief Finance Officer (or his nominated authorising officer). A record must also be kept of offers of hospitality that are declined (e.g. because of their nature and/or value). The Register for the Receipt of Gifts and Provision and Receipt of Hospitality is held and administered by the Chief Finance Officer (or his nominated representative). In all cases, responsibility for notifying the Chief Finance Officer of any giving or receipt of hospitality and gifts lies firmly with the individual concerned. Individuals are advised that failure to disclose such items that fall within the remit of this policy could constitute a disciplinary offence in the case of Group employees, or a dispute in accordance with the Group s constitution in the case of GP members, their practices and practice employees. In certain circumstances, non-disclosure may also be referred to the Local Counter Fraud Specialist for further investigation. Individuals, therefore, should seek the advice of the Deputy Chief Finance Officer when in any doubt regarding the suitability of giving or receiving gifts or hospitality. 9 P age

10 Appendix 1: Register for the receipt of Gifts and provision and receipt of Hospitality Register for the Receipt of Gifts and Provision & Receipt of Hospitality Reference 1 Date of offer Offered To CCG (mark as A) By CCG (mark as B) Dudley CCG Name & Position Other body Name & Position and organisation (A)ccepted or (D)eclined Details Description of the gift or hospitality given / offered / received Venue (where applicable) Associated Value ( ) Approx. if not known APPROVAL FOR HOSPITALITY GIVEN AND RECEIVED Approved by Reasons for offer, Acceptance or Decline Date