Pharmaceutical giants are pouring tens of millions of pounds into struggling NHS services – including paying the salaries of medical staff and funding the redesign of patient treatment – as they seek to boost drug sales in the UK, the Observer can reveal.
Drug firms are simultaneously funding groups that lobby for greater investment in their disease areas, and in some cases are paying generous consultancy fees to influential healthcare professionals, including GPs who have worked as clinical leads for NHS England and have received as much as £480,000 each from industry since 2019.
activities other than research and development (R&D).
Payments to UK health professionals
The payments include more than £29m in funding to NHS trusts, as well as millions more to GP practices and companies that support NHS care. A further £43.7m was paid to doctors, nurses, pharmacists and admin staff.
The rise in spending raises concerns about the growing influence of pharmaceutical companies in the NHS as it reaches its 75th anniversary milestone. Amid record pressure on services, drug giants say closer collaboration can help deliver major benefits to patients.
But project documents reveal many of the partnerships are expected to lead to a boost in sales for the companies, fuelling questions about conflicts of interest. David Rowland, director of the Centre for Health and the Public Interest thinktank, warned that “cash-strapped” NHS trusts could not afford “to be naïve about these deals with Big Pharma”. “They are certainly not providing this funding as an act of charity,” he said.
The payments include more than £29m in funding to NHS trusts, as well as millions more to GP practices and companies that support NHS care. A further £43.7m was paid to doctors, nurses, pharmacists and admin staff.
The rise in spending raises concerns about the growing influence of pharmaceutical companies in the NHS as it reaches its 75th anniversary milestone. Amid record pressure on services, drug giants say closer collaboration can help deliver major benefits to patients.
But project documents reveal many of the partnerships are expected to lead to a boost in sales for the companies, fuelling questions about conflicts of interest. David Rowland, director of the Centre for Health and the Public Interest thinktank, warned that “cash-strapped” NHS trusts could not afford “to be naïve about these deals with Big Pharma”. “They are certainly not providing this funding as an act of charity,” he said.
activities other than research and development (R&D).
Payments to UK health professionals and organisations, including donations, sponsorship, consultancy fees and expenses, reached a record £200m in 2022, excluding R&D with companies seeking to promote lucrative drugs for obesity, diabetes and heart conditions among the biggest spenders. The total spending was almost double the £108m paid by the drugs industry in 2015, while payments to healthcare organisations in the same period nearly tripled to £156.5m
The payments include more than £29m in funding to NHS trusts, as well as millions more to GP practices and companies that support NHS care. A further £43.7m was paid to doctors, nurses, pharmacists and admin staff.
The rise in spending raises concerns about the growing influence of pharmaceutical companies in the NHS as it reaches its 75th anniversary milestone. Amid record pressure on services, drug giants say closer collaboration can help deliver major benefits to patients.
But project documents reveal many of the partnerships are expected to lead to a boost in sales for the companies, fuelling questions about conflicts of interest. David Rowland, director of the Centre for Health and the Public Interest
The payments include more than £29m in funding to NHS trusts, as well as millions more to GP practices and companies that support NHS care. A further £43.7m was paid to doctors, nurses, pharmacists and admin staff.
The rise in spending raises concerns about the growing influence of pharmaceutical companies in the NHS as it reaches its 75th anniversary milestone. Amid record pressure on services, drug giants say closer collaboration can help deliver major benefits to patients.
But project documents reveal many of the partnerships are expected to lead to a boost in sales for the companies, fuelling questions about conflicts of interest. David Rowland, director of the Centre for Health and the Public Interest thinktank, warned that “cash-strapped” NHS trusts could not afford “to be naïve about these deals with Big Pharma”. “They are certainly not providing this funding as an act of charity,” he said.
The payments include more than £29m in funding to NHS trusts, as well as millions more to GP practices and companies that support NHS care. A further £43.7m was paid to doctors, nurses, pharmacists and admin staff.
The rise in spending raises concerns about the growing influence of pharmaceutical companies in the NHS as it reaches its 75th anniversary milestone. Amid record pressure on services, drug giants say closer collaboration can help deliver major benefits to patients.
But project documents reveal many of the partnerships are expected to lead to a boost in sales for the companies, fuelling questions about conflicts of interest. David Rowland, director of the Centre for Health and the Public Interest thinktank, warned that “cash-strapped” NHS trusts could not afford “to be naïve about these deals with Big Pharma”. “They are certainly not providing this funding as an act of charity,” he said.
thinktank, warned that “cash-strapped” NHS trusts could not afford “to be naïve about these deals with Big Pharma”. “They are certainly not providing this funding as an act of charity,” he said.
