Principles of joint NHS/pharmaceutical industry initiatives

• All joint working between the pharmaceutical industry and the NHS must be for the benefits of patients
• The interests of individual patients must be protected
• Clinical aspects of care, including the development of guidelines and protocols, should be under local/national NHS control, and industry input is legitimate and offers potential benefits to patients and NHS organisations
• Long-term strategic partnership is the desired outcome, but work should proceed on a project by project basis
• All patient identifiers should be removed from data to respect and preserve patient confidentiality in line with the Data Protection Act
• Reports or information pertaining to the project/agreement should not be used or published without explicit permission given by all partners entering the agreement
• Joint working should not be seen as an endorsement or promotion of a specific medicine or technology
• Joint working should not undermine or conflict with the ethical requirements of any healthcare professional, including the duty of the clinicians to provide whatever treatment they consider clinically appropriate
• Pharmaceutical companies must comply with the ABPI Code of Practice for the Pharmaceutical Industry at all times
• All NHS employed staff must comply with NHS (and relevant professional bodies) codes of conduct at all times
• Pharmaceutical company size (turnover) should not dictate involvement with the NHS
• If joint working involves research, then best research practice should be applied and consultation with the relevant Local Research Ethics Committee should be sought.

Source: ABPI: NHS and Pharmaceutical Industry Working Together for Patients, 2005