Disclosure UK is the searchable, online database showing payments and benefits in kind – known as ‘transfers of value’ – made to UK healthcare organisations (HCOs) and healthcare professionals (HCPs), including other relevant decision makers (ORDMs), for working in partnership with the pharmaceutical industry. As part of wider commitments to transparency, pharmaceutical companies are required by the ABPI Code of Practice for the pharmaceutical industry to publicly disclose this data annually, via Disclosure UK.

Disclosure UK is updated at the end of June with data from the previous year, and can be found at www.disclosureuk.org.uk. It is managed by The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), on behalf of the pharmaceutical companies disclosing data.

Relationships between pharmaceutical companies and HCPs/HCOs is vital in developing life-saving medicines and improving patient outcomes. Disclosure ensures this vital collaboration remains ethical and transparent.

The database shows two types of values; direct fees or payments for services, and benefits in kind whereby a direct payment is not received but the monetary value is received instead, such as travel, accommodation, or registration fees.

Data shown on Disclosure UK covers the key areas of partnership between industry and HCPs/HCOs, including:

• Participation in advisory boards
• Speaking at or chairing meetings
• Working with and advising doctors and scientists in pharmaceutical companies
• Speaking at conferences and symposia
• Attending and contributing to national and international conferences
• Provision of grants and donations (HCOs only)
• Sponsorship of events for the provision of medical education to HCPs (HCOs only)

HCPs and HCOs can check the data provided by pharmaceutical companies before it is published, via a private disclosure portal. The portal requires unique log-in details and will only show data relating to that HCP or HCO. Consider the private portal as ‘behind the scenes’ access to the public Disclosure UK database, and that logging in provides an opportunity to review and raise queries about data shown against your name or your organisation’s name.

Once logged into the disclosure portal you can detail and submit queries about your data. Choose one of the following:

• Raise a general query - for example, please update my/our principal practice address;
• Raise a query on selected rows – for specific queries about a single value, for example, please could I have more information about the work this value relates to?

Queries are passed to the relevant pharmaceutical company(ies) who will respond. For detailed instructions, please review the step-by-step ‘Guide to raising queries for HCPs and HCOs’ from the Disclosure UK resources library – www.disclosureuk.org.uk.

Pharmaceutical companies use either Consent or Legitimate Interests to disclose details about their HCP partnerships in-line with data protection law. For information about what this means, please review the ‘What is Legitimate Interests?’ guide from the Disclosure UK resources library – www.disclosureuk.org.uk.

These can be merged. Access the portal using the login details linked to the most accurate address (check the address on your letter or email). Raise a ‘General Query’ from the top of the page. Use the query form to detail the multiple accounts and confirm which should be the master. Once actioned, all information will be viewable in the portal under a single log-in and published on Disclosure UK under one address. Alternatively, please email disclosureuk@lists.candc-uk.com for support.

After logging in, you will be prompted to provide an email address:

If you encounter issues with your provided username or password, please email disclosureuk@lists.candc-uk.com.

Some computer or company firewalls may flag the disclosure portal as an unsafe website. If this is the case, please contact your IT team to override.

• Private disclosure portal: https://portal.disclosureuk.org.uk
• Disclosure UK database & resources: www.disclosureuk.org.uk
• ABPI Code of Practice: www.pmcpa.org.uk
• ABPI website: www.abpi.org.uk