Conflict of interest problems in new NHS have not been solved, regulator says

The government has still not clarified how new NHS commissioning reforms will prevent GPs getting into conflicts of interest, according to a leading health service regulator.

David Bennett, the chair and interim chief executive of Monitor, told a BMJ/King’s Fund debate that ministers had yet to make “important decisions” regarding commissioning groups that might want to provide services themselves. Until that happened, Monitor’s own role in this area couldn’t be determined, he said.

“It’s not yet entirely clear how all this is going to work,” he said. He said the issue of “self supply” by GPs was complex. “Our starting point will be very simple. Whatever a GP does, as a commissioner or provider, they need to demonstrate it’s …