Reference Number: GuCG010 Version: 1.2 Name of Originator / Author & Organisation: Don Pritchett Responsible LECCG Committee: Audit Committee LECCG Executive Lead: Sandra Williamson, Chief Finance Officer Date Approved by LECCG Authorising Committee: 01.02.17 Review date: December 2018 Target audience: Distributed via: All staff Intradoc Website Date Policy Circulated: 06.02.17 v1.2 Page 1 of 6
Version Control Sheet Version Number Changes: i.e. Whole Revision / Section / Paragraph / Appendix Reason for Change i.e. National Guidance Summary of Amendments Date Amended by 1.2 Update Change of Local Counter Fraud Specialist Update Risk Assessment Update to Reporting Concerns section Update section 21.11.16 Helen Stead Add in Reference Section New section Page 2 of 6
Bribery may be considered as: An inducement or reward offered, promised or provided to someone to perform their function of activities improperly in order to gain a personal, regulatory and/or contractual advantage. The NHS takes bribery very seriously. It is a crime and does not, and will not, pay bribes or offer improper inducements to anyone for any purpose. Nor do we accept bribes or improper inducements. This applies to everyone who works for us or with us, including third parties who carry out work on our behalf. The Bribery Act 2010 came into force during 2011 and creates specific criminal offences which carry custodial sentences of up to ten years and potentially unlimited fines. in conjunction with NHS Protect will seek to obtain the strongest penalties including criminal prosecution, as well as disciplinary and civil sanctions against anyone associated with who is found to be involved in any bribery. We are committed to anti-bribery and as an organisation will expect everyone to play their part. The strategy includes the following measures: Governing Body level commitment to ensuring a zero-tolerance culture toward bribery, Risk-assessing those areas of the organisation which may be most vulnerable to the threat of bribery, Ensuring that all policies, protocols, procedures and core documentation (including contract, documentation) are in place to prevent and mitigate the bribery risk, Communicating internally to staff and externally to suppliers and others to ensure they are aware of s compliance with the Bribery Act 2010 and knows what to do if they suspect or discover bribery. Page 3 of 6
Reporting concerns If you have any concerns or suspicions regarding bribery, corruption or fraud, please contact: Your Local Counter Fraud Specialist Neil Mohan on 01509 604029 or email: neil.mohan@nhs.net NHS Fraud & Corruption Reporting Line on 0800 028 40 60 and www.reportnhsfruad.nhs.uk Page 4 of 6
Compliance Risk Assessment Introduction The Bribery Act 2010 came into force on 1 st July 2011. This legislation applies to commercial organisations including the NHS. This Act deals with the offences of bribing another person and the offences relating to being bribed. The Act brings into law a new corporate crime of failing to prevent bribery with unlimited fines. In addition to corporate liability there is potential personal liability for both directors and officers with unlimited fines and/or imprisonment for up to 10 years. The Act provides a statutory defence where an organisation can show it had in place adequate procedures designed to prevent bribery being committed on its behalf and states the Secretary of State will issue guidance on bribery prevention procedures. This guidance has been published by the Ministry of Justice in the document The Bribery Act 2010 Guidance. This guidance also includes case studies. This Guidance outlines the six principles that should be adhered to in order to prevent bribery and provide a statutory defence. The six principles being proportionate procedures, top-level commitment, risk assessment, due diligence, communication (including training) and monitoring and review. The first stage is the completion of a risk assessment. Risk assessment The purpose of the Act is to prevent and punish bribery. The main aim of the Act is to prevent bribes being offered as part of the business process and punish where bribes are found to have been offered. The CCG is not a multi-national trading organisation. It contracts mostly with local NHS providers but does also contract with private providers. There are budgets for acute hospital care, community services, prescribing, continuing healthcare, GP services and other primary care services. The budgets are spent with cash payments against an authorised cash limit. There are payment authorisation processes including cheque or BACS payment requests. It is unlikely a foreign official would be bribed. Therefore the risk of offering a bribe is low and this risk assessment is considered proportionate to the nature of the CCG s business. The opposite of offering a bribe is the receiving of a bribe and the risk areas are considered to be: The CCG spend on administrative supplies is relatively low at 20,000, partly using a procurement and payment service provided by Banner. Page 5 of 6
Capital building works and revenue building etc. maintenance is minimal. Purchases under 10,000 do not require spending managers to obtain quotes, quotes are required between 10,000 and 50,000 with spending managers often involved in the process, Tenders are required for purchases over 50,000 and if the spend is over 113,000 over the lifetime of the contract tenders are invited in compliance with European Union (EU) law. Most significantly the CCG decides to spend on contracts with both NHS and private providers of healthcare. The CCG uses the standard NHS contract for all of its healthcare contracts In addition, all CCG staff and Governing Body Members must declare and register any interests that might potentially conflict with those of the CCG or the wider NHS (including Co-Commissioning from 01/04/2015). The CCG Declaration of Interest Registers are below: Conclusion The main purpose of the Bribery Act is to provide statutory offences of bribing another person, bribery of a foreign official and failure of commercial organisations to prevent bribery. The Act also provides an offence of accepting a bribe. The CCG is considered to be a low risk organisation in respect of members or officers bribing another person and as a local organisation is not involved in international operations therefore the bribing of a foreign official is unlikely. Whilst the risk areas relate to accepting a bribe, it should be noted that the CCG already has an established corporate governance framework that complies with the requirements for CCGs. Reference This policy is also listed in the Clinical Commissioning Group Constitution which can be found at www.lincolnshireeastccg.nhs.uk, alongside the Counter Fraud and Corruption Policy and the Standing Financial Instructions. Page 6 of 6