A lobbying organisation with links to some of the world’s most significant pharmaceutical organizations and health care products companies has been asked by NHS bosses to compose a report that could influence health policy, it has been reported.
NHS England commissioned the Specialised Healthcare Alliance (SHCA) to seek the advice of patients’ groups, healthcare organisations and charities and make a report that would be regarded as as element of its method for commissioning specialised services in the long term.
But SHCA, which represents dozens of charities, is funded totally by 13 drug organizations, the Independent said, while its director John Murray is a lobbyist whose organization, JMC Partners, performs with clients such as pharmaceutical makers AstraZeneca and Pfizer and healthcare device business Cyberonics.
The Liberal Democrat MP Tessa Munt explained the revelation “called into question the integrity and objectivity of NHS England’s handling of 143 specialised services for hundreds of thousands of people”. But NHS England said the report did not involve a conflict of curiosity, saying it was “not the ultimate approach and not NHS England policy”.
The report by SHCA did not make specific spending recommendations, the Independent stated, but did suggest NHS England ought to set out a “clear commitment” to “disinvest in interventions that have reduce influence for patients” in favour of “new providers or innovations”.
Murray told the newspaper there was no website link among his lobbying organization and the SHCA other than offering secretariat providers and stated the SHCA “never requires a position on certain items or therapies in any of its activities”.
James Palmer, clinical director of specialised solutions at NHS England, said he was aware of Murray’s function as a lobbyist but “there are no options for lobbying in the procedure of forming clinical policy”.
In a statement he mentioned the perform by SHCA would feed into a “draft strategy” along with input from one more 16 “engagement events”.
“It is totally wrong to propose we are currently being unduly influenced by lobbyists … Specialised Healthcare Alliance was asked along with other organisations to assistance the process of engaging patient groups and other stakeholders to let us know what they imagined the outline principles must be.
“This did not involve consulting on any individual treatment or consulting on any spending decisions.
“Every choice we get will be driven by the interests of individuals and the public, nothing at all else.”
NHS hires drugmaker-funded lobbyist
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