New report highlights conflicts of interest in clinical commissioning groups

The new clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) that will take charge of NHS service provision in April 2013 are likely to be significantly undermined by conflicts of interest, according to a new report.

Analysis carried out by the British Medical Journal has revealed that more than one-third of GPs on the boards of England's CCGs have conflicts of interest resulting from directorships or shares held in private companies.

These interests range from senior directorships in local for-profit firms to shareholdings in large private sector health companies, while in several cases the majority of GPs on a CCG governing body will have financial interests in the same private business.

Though some doctors have given up their stakes in these private enterprises because of their new roles as commissioners, others have yet to do so, with many commentators feeling that simply declaring an interest is not a sufficient step.

Calls are being made for regulators to implement more comprehensive regulations to deal with this potential issue.

Responding to these findings, Dr Laurence Buckman, chair of the British Medical Association's GPs committee, said: "We support the principle of greater clinician involvement in commissioning, but it must not come at the expense of the trust of patients."