Declaration of Interest by Faculty
The RCS England recognises that faculty involved in RCS-accredited surgical educational events or activities may have a range of interests in the commercial or not-for-profit sectors. These interests should not necessarily preclude involvement in a particular educational activity or event, but the RCS requests that any conflicting or competing interests should be declared and briefly described by faculty.
A declaration of interest - financial, commercial, personal, professional, advisory, research-linked or other - relating to the nature or content of the activity, event or material provided, should be made by stating on the slide provided:
"I have / do not have a conflict of interest (financial, commercial, personal, professional, advisory, research-linked or other) relating to this activity / event / material"
If there is a conflict of interest, the member of faculty is requested to provide a brief description of the nature of this conflict.
Such a declaration is to be made for example at the start of a presentation or lecture at an event, or in the material provided for an online educational activity.
Providers of activities or events accredited or approved by the RCS are to ensure that such declarations are made by the faculty involved in their activity or event.
- Financial refers to the individual's or a family member's financial gain.
- Commercial refers to a gain linked to a company or trading activity.
- Personal refers to a non-financial interest, such as personal reputation, or relating to a family member.
- Professional refers to areas professional activity which may not have a financial aspect.
- Advisory refers to professional advice provided to commercial or not-for-profit organisations.
- Research-linked refers to work related to research for commercial or not-for-profit organisations.
It should be noted that there may be overlap between the types of interest described here.
Please contact RCS Quality Assurance and Accreditation for further information.