Pharmaceutical industry payments to healthcare professional organisations in the United Kingdom: a seven-year cross-sectional analysis of the Disclosure UK database from 2015 to 2021

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine the size and trends in payments from the pharmaceutical industry to healthcare professional organisations (HPOs) in the United Kingdom (UK), and to characterise the conflict of interest (COI) management plans by HPOs who received large payments.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis of non-research payments disclosed in the Disclosure UK database from 2015 to 2021.

SETTING: United Kingdom.

PARTICIPANTS: 148 pharmaceutical companies disclosing payment data and HPOs receiving the largest payments.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Total value and median of payments per HPO; existence and content of COI policies among HPOs receiving the largest payments.

RESULTS: A total of 898 HPOs received non-research payments worth £99.9 million (17.4% of non-research payments to all healthcare organisations). The median seven-year payment per HPO was £4509 (interquartile range: £943-£30,360). The annual payments nearly doubled from £9.3 million in 2015 to £17.6 million in 2021. Event payments constituted the largest share (£68.2 million, 68.2%). HPOs representing physicians received over 91.5% (£91.5 million) of all payments, while those related to endocrinology and diabetology - 16.3% (£16.3 million). Over 59.9% (£59.9 million) went to the 30 top-funded HPOs, of which only 17 (56.7%) had a publicly accessible COI policy. However, just 6 (35.3%) of these policies included provisions for payments from external organisations.

CONCLUSIONS: HPOs received nearly one-fifth of pharmaceutical company payments to the UK healthcare sector. These payments were concentrated among a small number of HPOs, which often lacked effective policies for management of COI and payments from the industry.