Purpose of the Ethical Partnership Pledge

The Ethical Partnership Pledge calls on healthcare stakeholders to foster fair collaboration and address power imbalances within the NHS and the wider health system. By signing the Pledge, suppliers, NHS bodies, and partner organisations commit to working with transparency, protecting the vital role of charities, and safeguarding the autonomy of NHS staff while strengthening the foundations of social prescribing in patient care. This commitment ensures that contracts, partnerships, and community-based services are grounded in ethical principles that protect staff, empower patients, and build lasting trust across the healthcare sector.

Protecting Charities

We believe that patient charities and community organisations play a vital role in supporting care and driving innovation. This pledge ensures that –

  • Charities remain independent and are not used as marketing extensions of corporate partners.
  • All signatories recognise, respect and uphold the vital advocacy role of charities.
  • Educational tools, support resources, and co-produced materials created by charities are respected and fairly credited.
  • Community organisations are never pressured into exclusivity agreements or penalised for diverse collaborations.

Supporting NHS Staff

Healthcare professionals face immense pressures. We are committed to partnerships that – 

  • Respect the time, integrity, and clinical autonomy of NHS staff.
  • Ensure that procurement and supplier relationships never compromise patient care or limit staff decision-making.
  • Remove undue commercial influence from frontline healthcare delivery.

Safeguarding Patients

Patient care is at the heart of everything we do. Through this pledge, we strive to ensure that – 

  • Patients continue to receive unbiased, evidence-based care choices, free from supplier-imposed restrictions.
  • Holistic care options, social prescribing and community services, remain accessible alongside clinical treatment.
  • Innovation is co-produced ethically, prioritising patient wellbeing over profit.

Why This Matters

As the healthcare system evolves, partnerships are inevitable. But how we collaborate determines whether these partnerships truly serve the public good. The Ethical Partnership Pledge ensures that all collaborations are fair, transparent, and focused on health equity, not commercial gain.

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Our Core Principles

  • Protect Charities and Third Sector Partners
    Charities and community groups are equal partners, not marketing channels. We respect their independence, intellectual property, and ensure support is never tied to exclusivity or commercial conflicts.

 

  • Preserve Patient Choice
    Patients deserve unbiased, evidence-based care. We oppose restrictive contracts that limit access to the best treatment options based on commercial interests.

 

  • Support Social Prescribing and Holistic Care
    We champion social prescribing and community wellbeing initiatives, ensuring patients have access to support services beyond clinical treatment.

 

  • Foster Ethical Innovation and Shared Learning
    Innovation should serve patient wellbeing and health equity. We promote fair collaboration in co-producing new solutions, sharing credit and respecting intellectual contributions.

 

  • Transparency in Partnership Dealings
    Ethical collaborations require openness. We commit to disclosing potential conflicts of interest and maintaining clear boundaries between sales, procurement, and patient care.

 

  • Protect Staff from Undue Pressure
    We prioritize the wellbeing and autonomy of healthcare staff. Partnerships must never compromise clinical integrity or coerce frontline staff into supplier-influenced decisions.

Implementation and Endorsement

We invite public commissioners, trade bodies, local authorities, NHS organisations, and regulatory agencies to –

  • Endorse these principles as part of ethical supplier guidance,
  • Include relevant clauses in codes of conduct, framework agreements, or commissioning templates,
  • Create clear, accessible routes for charities to report supplier misconduct.

This proposal supports a healthier, more ethical public service ecosystem,  where all partners, commercial and charitable, are held to the highest standards of conduct.

Learn how to get involved