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Sponsorship
SPONSORSHIP
To whom it may concern,
Essentially Medical commissioned Steven Gray Consulting Limited to conduct a review its business model with regard to the ABPI Code of Practice. The aim of the review was to determine the extent to which Essentially Medical’s approach to providing educational meetings for healthcare professional was compatible with the aims and principles of the ABPI Code of Practice.
Steven Gray Consulting Limited is an independent company that specialises in healthcare marketing compliance*. In our opinion, the structure of Essentially Medical’s business model is one that encourages adherence to the principles of the Code. This assessment was conducted in May 2009. For the purposes of transparency, we would like to declare that Steven Gray Consulting Limited continues to act as an advisor to Essentially Medical in matters relating to the Code of Practice.
The basic principles of the Essentially Medical business model are:
· Hospital Consultants visit GP practices to make a short presentation on their relevant therapy area and answer questions from the GPs.
· A Pharmaceutical company sponsors the session.
· The consultant does not receive a fee for the session.
· The practice does not receive any fee for the session.
· Essentially Medical provides a modest buffet lunch.
· Pharmaceutical sponsorship is used solely and fully to cover the cost of the buffet lunch and the administration fees of Essentially Medical.
· Essentially Medical arranges all aspects of the meeting including the provision of an agenda with the necessary declarations of industry sponsorship. The practice is fully aware that a pharmaceutical company sponsors the meeting.
· Company sponsorship is also publicly declared on the Essentially Medical website (www.essentiallymedical.co.uk).
Subject to permission being received from the practice, pharmaceutical representatives attend the session with a promotional exhibition stand and may also be able to make a short promotional presentation. Where this is the case, the exhibition and presentation should be fully declared on the agenda. The subject of the educational session is completely at the discretion of the speaker and the general practice; the pharmaceutical company does not influence it in any way. Pharmaceutical companies and their representatives do not have any influence over the content of the slides used by the consultant physician. Essentially Medical has committed to advise Steven Gray Consulting Limited of any change in its business model. Should such an occasion arise, the new model will be reassessed for compatibility with the aims of the ABPI Code of Practice. In any event, Essentially Medical will be assessed again in June 2010. Steven Gray May 29th 2009 * Important Note For the purpose of clarity, we would like to stress that Steven Gray Consulting Limited is an independent company. Steven Gray Consulting Limited is not an official agent of the ABPI or PMCPA and has not been assessed or accredited by those organisations in any way. Our advice to Essentially Medical is based on experience. It is important to recognise the only organisation that can determine compliance with the Code is the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority (PMCPA), which monitors the Code on behalf of the ABPI. The PMCPA do not formally certify any organisation and in fact itself can only provide informal advice on how to comply with the Code. Instead each activity is assessed on its own merits when a complaint is brought to the attention of the PMCPA.
Sponsorship is usually provided by pharma or medical equipment suppliers.
Sponsorship includes lunch, and at the start of the meeting it will be announced that your company is the sponsor. In addition, we will ensure that your literature is distributed to each GP attending. There is usually the opportunity for a company representative to attend as well, and have the opportunity of giving an informal presentation to the doctors, practice permitting. You may want to link your sponsorship to a potential speciality in which you have an interest.
Benefits of Sponsorship
- Have your company's name liked to a very popular learning programme and so be seen as benefactors and contributors to the improvement of the NHS skills base.
- Gain exposure to the GP community without overtly selling
- Sessions are very popular and therefore all doctors and other clinical staff in the practice normally attend and we also invite doctors from smaller surgeries and sole practitioners in the area as well.
- Relatively small outlay
- A receptive audience who are keen to learn
- Opportunity to sponsor groups of sessions, or even complete area programmes over a defined period
- Get closer to the consultants and be seen to be supporting the Consultants in developing their own practices.
Corporate Governance & ethical standards
Essentially Medical strives to uphold the highest ethical standards.
We are cognizant of the requirements of the Codes of Practice of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) and the Association of the British Healthcare Industry (ABHI). Our business model has been constructed with the requirements of those codes in mind.
Whilst we cannot guarantee that individual events are compliant with any industry code, we engage the services of an independent company to provide us with appropriate advice. We will always be happy to answer questions from any of our stakeholders.
Steve Gray
Steven Gray Consulting Limited
Registered in England (05973390)
Business Address: 112 Linceslade Grove, Loughton, Milton Keynes, MK5 8BL
VAT Registration: 896 2483 72
Please Download our Sponsorship form
North West London, Evelyn Diamond - 07929 633108 or e-mail info@essentiallymedical.co.uk
South West Essex, Helen Stollar - 07956 340237 or e-mail swessex@essentiallymedical.co.uk
North London Haringey, Tejal Shah - 07976 666442 or e-mail nlondonharingey@essentiallymedical.co.uk
West London, West London team - Susan Lipman - 07958 505721 or e-mail westlondon@essentiallymedical.co.uk
North London Enfield, - 07974 001230 or 01763 289930 or e-mail nlondonenfield@essentiallymedical.co.uk
East Middlesex, Jackie Kaplan - 07930 571024 or e-mail Eastmiddlesex@essentiallymedical.co.uk
Manchester, Anne Porter - 07899 701704 or e-mail manchesterone@essentiallymedical.co.uk
West Herts, Kay Mavromatis - 07879 465096 or e-mail westherts@essentiallymedical.co.uk