Transparency is vital to public trust in healthcare. This includes declaring potential conflicts of interest and reporting payments or benefits received by clinicians. In the UK, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges has long argued that declaring such benefits through a publicly available website is essential for patients and supports ethical collaboration.

In 2013, the Academy and 17 other UK medical community bodies, collectively the now disbanded Ethical Standards in Health & Life Sciences Group (ESHLSG), consulted on plans for one central UK pharma disclosure database. Almost 80% of respondents agreed that a collaborative system for declaring payments would support an evolution in how healthcare communities and industry work together for the benefit of patients in a way that is transparent, ethical and meaningful. 

To deliver on this goal, Disclosure UK, the pharmaceutical industry led database, was launched in 2016. It is part of a Europe-wide initiative​ to increase transparency between pharmaceutical companies and the doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals (HCPs) and organisations it works with.

The Academy has long advocated for transparency, recommending that all doctors and other HCPs support pharmaceutical disclosure via Disclosure UK and the industry’s Code of Practice.

The spirit and practice of Disclosure UK complements NHS transparency principles across the UK, including NHS England’s Conflict of Interest policy. The Academy also supports guidelines reflected across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which ask all healthcare professionals and organisations to declare any conflicts of interest via their relevant local, organisational mechanism.

After 10 years of Disclosure UK, the estimated percentage of named HCPs published against values received is at the highest level ever reported at more than 90%. It is important to note that where companies cannot legally name a HCP, the value is still published albeit in aggregate.

The growing percentage of named individuals demonstrates that HCPs and companies are committed to transparency in their relationships.

Public advocacy from professional medical bodies, including our own, has helped achieve this, and it will be essential in helping that proportion go even higher.

Building trust through transparency is essential now and for the future

Disclosure UK alone cannot combat the risk or perceived risk of conflicts of interests.

The platform sits within a wider UK framework of regulations and commitments across the life-science and healthcare communities to ensure collaborations are ethical and patients receive the best care.

To tackle the challenges to build a strong, future-proof health and care system, the NHS needs to team up with all its partners — including those in the life sciences sector.

When the NHS and industry work together, it can, under the right circumstances and with the right safeguards in place, be a powerful catalyst for improvement in healthcare, with benefits for patients, NHS staff and services. The King’s Fund has noted this – citing examples of partnership projects that have been incredibly successful for patients.

But such relationships must be transparent. 

HCPs participating in UK disclosure mechanisms, such as Disclosure UK, and proactively reporting potential conflicts locally, will continue to improve transparency for patients.

In the last ten years, disclosure provisions have evolved. New obligations have been added, for example, under the ABPI Code of Practice, pharmaceutical companies are now required to publish payments for certain contracted services to members of the public, including patients and journalists.

We are proud of the previous collective progress but must not be complacent as we look ahead to the next ten years. Disclosure must evolve further to meet societal and, most importantly, patient expectations for transparency. The Academy will continue to support industry’s efforts to evolve disclosure requirements for the benefit of patient care.

Delivering for patients through open collaboration

Over the next ten years, it will continue to be essential for the NHS and the pharmaceutical industry to work together to improve patient care.

Making sure those relationships are open and transparent must be part of the UK government’s upcoming 10-year plan for the NHS, as well as part of standard operating practice for the NHS and the pharmaceutical industry.

We urge all members of the medical profession to choose to be open about their relationships with the pharmaceutical industry, and we urge all pharmaceutical companies who may not yet be signed up to the ABPI Code and Disclosure UK, to do so.