Conflict of Interest Policy

PURPOSE

The purpose of this policy is to provide guidance to relevant individuals on handling possible conflicts of interest that may arise in the Governing of the NCIP.

This policy applies to all employees, volunteers, and consultants whenever they interact or potentially interact with any NCIP business operations. This policy defines what is meant by conflict of interest and sets out the roles and responsibilities for managing conflict of interest.

DEFINITION OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST

A conflict of interest is a situation in which an individual or organisation has competing interests or loyalties between the NCIP and another organisation or individual. Conflicts of interest can arise in a variety of circumstances in relation to private practice, training, or taking part in the management of the organisation.

SCOPE

It is the policy of the NCIP, its employees, volunteers, and consultants acting on behalf of the NCIP must be free from conflicts of interest, real or potential, that could adversely affect their judgement or objectivity to the organisation in conducting business activities of any kind for the NCIP.

NCIP recognises that its employees, volunteers, and consultants may take part in legitimate financial, business, charitable, and other activities outside of their recognised roles in the organisation, but any potential conflict of interest raised by those activities must be acknowledged, disclosed, and in relevant cases properly managed.

It is the responsibility of every individual to recognise situations in which they have a conflict of interest or might reasonably be seen by others to have a conflict. This conflict then needs to be disclosed, in writing to the management of the NCIP and any further steps taken that may be appropriate and set out in more detail before proceeding.

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

It is the duty of all relevant employees, volunteers, or consultants of the NCIP to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest to the Operations Team or the MAB. The information submitted will be evaluated with particular attention to ethics and risk assessment to identify if any further action is required and a written record of the outcome of the evaluation is kept and a copy will be provided to the concerned individuals.

Such situations must be carefully managed through the Ethics Committee and the Risk Assessment Team to ensure that any conflict of interest does not detrimentally impact the standards of the NCIP. 

OT V.1 14.03.23