Declaration of conflict of interest

As part of a professional programme, you will have exposure to the public at their most vulnerable. It is essential that at the start of, and throughout your programme of study, you declare any potential conflict of interest or previous exposure to a client group, service or placement location you may have had/still have.

A Conflict of Interest occurs when an individual’s personal interests, e.g. family, friendships, financial, or social factors, could compromise their or another person’s judgment, decisions, or actions in the workplace.

It is not possible to list all potential conflicts of interest here; students are expected to seek advice from the placements team if they are in any way unsure if a specific placement location or service would represent a conflict of interest. Some broad examples are given below for both Healthcare and Education students.

Healthcare Examples

• Employment in any healthcare area. This includes current and previous bank work if you normally work in a small number of locations and previous substantive employment in a specific area. Please provide dates of employment and roles.
• Exposure as a service user to any healthcare setting, including all social work settings, health visiting, physical health, outpatients, mental health, etc. Please include start and end dates of service use. Please note that this includes accessing a service with a dependant e.g. Social Work or Health Visiting for a child.
• A relative currently receiving treatment as a service user, e.g. a grandparent is resident in a nursing home
• The GP Practice you are currently registered with
• Relatives or close friends working in a healthcare setting. Please provide the location and role.

Initial Teacher Education Examples

• Schools in which family members or close friends are employed as members of staff or governors
• Schools where you have children or relatives in attendance as students
• Schools where you have worked, have completed voluntary work experience or a previous placement
• Schools that you attended as a student

Student Self Declaration

To minimise potential stress to students, ensure the safety of both students and others within the practice placement, and to uphold the values promoted by the relevant statutory bodies, students are required to declare in ARC any conflict of interest as outlined above. If you are unsure if there is information you need to disclose, please discuss this with the placements team. Should your circumstances change, you must discuss this with your personal tutor and placements team and update the record in ARC.

As a student of the University of Gloucestershire, I agree that;

• Any potential conflicts of interest to working within a practice placement as part of my course of study are declared in ARC.
• I will inform the University of Gloucestershire, at the soonest possible time, of any changes in my circumstances relating to my ability to work within any practice setting. This includes and new or changed conflict of interest or perceived conflict of interest.
• If I have no conflicts of interest to declare, I will enter “None” in the declaration box in ARC.

By completing the conflict of interest section in ARC, students are deemed to have signed this declaration electronically.