Maintaining public trust is a priority for us. We’re transparent about how we maintain impartiality, declaring any interests which might unfairly influence our decisions.
If you believe you have any personal or professional interests that could impact your independent thinking, including the purpose, role or remit of your involvement with the HRA, you’re obliged to declare these in writing – by email or letter – within four weeks. This applies to HRA staff, community members and members of the public who take part in HRA activities.
If your interests change at any time, you’re expected to let us know.
To make sure our records are up to date, all declarations of interest are reviewed every year.
Conflict of interest
This helpful guidance from the National Audit Office tells you more about managing conflicts of interest and gives some examples of what a conflict of interest may look like.
If you’re a member of a Research Ethics Committee (REC) or Confidentiality Advisory Group (CAG), your Chair will check at each meeting whether there are any conflicts of interest that may affect your work, for example if you’ve been involved in a piece of research that you’re now being asked to review as part of your REC or CAG role.
You may be asked to withdraw from this piece of business to make sure your committee’s work remains fair and impartial, and this will be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.
If you’re a member of the public, you’ll be asked to declare any interests ahead of each HRA activity you’re involved in. If you have any questions or are unsure about what is classed as a conflict of interest, please get in touch with a member of our public involvement team for advice.
If you’re involved in other HRA activities, for example as a member of the Community Committee, and a conflict of interest arises, please speak to your main point of contact for that work.
If you’re not sure who is best to get in touch with, you can find some useful contact details on our HRA Community ways of working page.