As Christmas approaches, it’s a good time to remind colleagues that our Conflicts of Interests and Standards of Business Conduct policy is in place all-year round to ensure our dealings are conducted to the highest standards of integrity.

Section 10a of the policy outlines what you should do if you are offered gifts, cash, vouchers or promotional materials of any kind. We’ve outlined it below and explained what you should do if this applies to you, but please read the policy in full for all the details. It's on the Policies and Documents Library.

Gifts from patients, families and service users

• Gifts of cash and vouchers to individuals should always be declined.
• Staff should not ask for any gifts, regardless of value.
• Gifts valued at over £50 should be treated with caution and only be accepted on behalf of Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust and arrangements made for this to be received into the Charitable Trust Funds for that particular area, not in a personal capacity. These should be declared by staff with a clear reason as to why it was considered permissible to accept the gift, alongside the estimated or actual value.
• Modest gifts accepted under a value of £50 do not need to be declared.
• A common-sense approach should be applied to the valuing of gifts (using an actual amount, if known, or an estimate that a reasonable person would make as to its value).
• Multiple gifts from the same source over a 12-month period should be treated in the same way as single gifts over £50 where the cumulative value exceeds £50.

Staff should not accept gifts that may affect, or be seen to affect, their professional judgement.

Gifts from suppliers or contractors:

• Gifts from suppliers or contractors doing business (or likely to do business) with the organisation should be declined, whatever their value.
• Low cost branded promotional aids such as pens or post-it notes may, however, be accepted where they are under the value of £6 in total and need not be declared.

What information to give and how to make a declaration

Please provide the following information:

• Your name and job role
• A description of the nature and value of the gift, including its source
• Date of receipt
• Any other relevant information (e.g. circumstances surrounding the gift, action taken to mitigate against a conflict, details of any approvals given to depart from the terms of this policy).

You can declare a gift or other in line with our policy via our Declaration of Interest online portal which is accessed from the right-hand side of the intranet.