Ethical Leadership in NHS: Conflicts of Interest with Gifts and Hospitality

Ethical Leadership 1
Name of the student:
Name of the institution:
Roll No:
Date of submission:

Ethical Leadership 2
Executive Summary
The following looks at the NHS gifts and hospitality: The case of conflicts of interest topic
that was given for the first part. It looks at how the NHS accepting gifts from the
pharmaceutical companies would be considered a conflict of interest, and why this is
unethical. The following paper looks at the issue, why it would be considered an ethical
question, and the stakeholders as well. It also looks at relevant research and two theories, the
Utilitarian Theory and the Deontological Theory to explain the ethics of the case. The second
part looks at the values that are required for an ethical manager, and how the individual
would lead the business in an ethically high standard.

Ethical Leadership 3
Contents
Contents......................................................................................................................................3
Part 1: NHS gifts and hospitality: The case of conflicts of interest...........................................4
Introduction............................................................................................................................4
Why should this be explored?................................................................................................4
Role of the business in society...............................................................................................5
Key Stakeholders and How the issue affect them..................................................................6
Relevant Research..................................................................................................................7
Conclusion and Recommendations........................................................................................8
Utilitarian or Consequence-based Theory..............................................................................8
Deontological or Duty-based Theory.....................................................................................9
Part 2: Ethical Leader...............................................................................................................10
Introduction..........................................................................................................................10
Qualities and Values required..............................................................................................10
Managing Business to High Standard..................................................................................11
Conclusion............................................................................................................................12
References................................................................................................................................13

Ethical Leadership 4
Part 1: NHS gifts and hospitality: The case of conflicts of interest
Introduction
The NHS or the National Health Services, is a government, publicly funded healthcare
system in the United Kingdom. They are the main providers of healthcare and services to a
majority of the population in the United Kingdom, and have to as such, register all gifts that
are provided to local services by private drug companies. The NHS is a very prestigious
organization within the United Kingdom, and it is also one of the biggest employers within
the country as well, employing around 1,400,000 employees (Civaner, 2012). A conflict of
Interest can happen when the organization takes a large number of gifts from drug
companies, such as expensive items, in order to recommend the drugs to the patient. This
would be deemed unethical, and would be a conflict of interest, since the main duty of the
workers in NHS is the service of the patients, and not personal ambition or interest (Elliot,
2015). The NHS covers all the public health in England, and is one of the main reasons why
the Healthcare system in the United Kingdom works in an efficient, and cost-effective
manner.
When drugs companies or pharmaceuticals come up with a new and effective drug, they try
to sell the drug to the doctors or members of the NHS (Witten, et al, 2008). In order to get the
drug approved, they often given elaborate and expensive gifts to the doctors or members.
This is seen as a conflict of interest, since many of the drugs could have potentially harmful
effects that are not given attention to. Hence, there is a registry that all hospitals must keep,
that lists the gifts that are provided to the doctors and NHS members.
Why should this be explored?
Most drugs have side-effects, many of which are extremely harmful to the patient. A doctor is
supposed to recommend a medication or drug that works best for the patient and has