Conflict of Interest Policy

All staff, volunteers, Trustees, members of sub-committees and members of the research review committee of The Kidney Fund will strive to avoid any conflict of interest between the interests of the Kidney Fund on the one hand, and personal, professional, and business interests on the other. This includes avoiding actual conflicts of interest as well as addressing the perception of conflicts of interest.

The purpose of this policy is to protect the integrity of the Kidney Fund's decision-making process, to enable our stakeholders to have confidence in our integrity, and to protect the integrity and reputation of volunteers, staff and committee members.

Examples of conflicts of interest include:

1. A committee member who is also on the committee of another organisation that is competing for the same funding.
2. A committee member who is related to a member of staff and there is a decision to be taken on staff pay and/or conditions.
3. A research review committee member who is directly involved in a project under review.
4. A research review committee member who is directly involved in work which is thought to be in competition with a project proposal under review.
5. A committee member who has shares in a business that may be awarded a contract to do work or provide services for the organisation.

Upon appointment, each Trustee and committee member will make a written disclosure of interests, such as relationships, and posts held, that could potentially result in a conflict of interest. Research review committee members will be required to disclose any conflicts of interest arising from project proposals under review.

This written disclosure will be kept on file in accordance with GDPR and will be updated annually.

In the course of meetings or activities, committee members will disclose any interests in a transaction or decision where there may be a conflict between the organisation’s best interests and the committee member’s best interests, or a conflict between the best interests of two organisations that the committee member is involved with.

After disclosure, the committee member should understand that they may be asked to leave the room for the discussion and may not be able to take part in the decision depending on the judgement of the other committee members present at the time.

Any such disclosure and the subsequent actions taken will be noted in the minutes.

This policy is meant to supplement good judgment, and staff, volunteers, Trustees and committee members should respect its spirit as well as its wording.

Download Conflict of Interest Declaration Form (PDF)