The Bribery Act 2010 came into force on 1 July 2011. The aim of the Act is to tackle bribery and corruption in both the private and public sector.

Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is keen to demonstrate that we comply with this Act. This builds upon a programme of work we already do each year, through our Local Counter Fraud Specialist, to tackle all forms of fraud and corruption against the Foundation Trust. This helps to ensure that valuable NHS resources are rightly used to provide excellent patient care and services.

As a NHS organisation we follow good NHS business practice and already have many robust controls in place that help to prevent bribery. However, as a Foundation Trust we cannot afford to be complacent and as such we are currently undergoing a review of these controls in light of the Act coming into force. This review will be monitored through the Board of Directors.

It is also important that all of our employees, contractors and agents comply with our policies and procedures. Finally, everyone working for, or on behalf of, the Foundation Trust must be kept aware of the standards of behaviour that are expected of them at all times. These ethical, professional conduct and probity standards are enshrined within a range of policies.

On behalf of the Foundation Trust and its Board of Directors, I confirm our ongoing top level commitment to the prevention of bribery and that we will simply not tolerate this or any other form of fraudulent or corrupt behaviour against the Foundation Trust.