Commercial Support Policy

BIASP Commercial Support Policy

Hitherto, BIASP has not had a policy to guide their decisions about commercial sponsorship.

In October 2019, the British Association of Stroke Physicians (BASP, as it was then) secretariat sent a survey about commercial support for BASP’s activities using Survey Monkey. 

It stated,“BASP is mostly funded by income from membership subscriptions. BASP could increase its revenue with sponsorship, unrestricted grants, or support for meetings from commercial organisations. There are some risks and benefits of this approach. Risks: Loss of independence, e.g. reduced effectiveness of campaigns, reduced ability to comment on NICE guidelines etc. Benefits: Generation of more financial revenue, e.g. reduction of membership fees, opportunity to fund academic ventures and/or promote stroke medicine as a career, etc. BASP does not have a policy about whether to accept or decline support from the commercial sector, in contrast to other similar organisations. Therefore, the BASP Executive needs to know the views of its members to inform its policy.”

708 members were invited to participate, of whom 149 (21%) voted. 74 (49.7%) members voted in favour of accepting financial or ‘in kind’ support from commercial organisations (e.g. pharmaceutical companies or device manufacturers), and the remaining 75 voted against (n=67, 45.0%) or weren’t sure (n=8, 5.4%). Without a “simple majority” (i.e. more than half of the votes cast, excluding abstentions), the BASP Executive was unable to create an organisational policy about commercial engagement. However, amongst the members who voted in favour or weren’t sure about the main question (n=82), the survey revealed that there was a “clear majority” (i.e. more than 60% of the votes cast) for five out of 11 specific types of commercial engagement that were mentioned.

During 2020, the BASP Executive considered the findings of the 2019 survey when drafting the BASP strategic plan 2021-2024, which involved consultation with BASP members and external organisations. Objective 5.5 of the final strategic plan was to, “Establish whether, and which types of commercial support for BASP activities are acceptable to a clear majority of BASP members” and the metric for this was, “Types of commercial support approved by more than 60% of BASP members who vote in a survey.”

In May 2021, BASP sought full or associate members’ views about the five specific types of commercial engagement that were supported by a clear majority of members who had voted in favour of accepting financial or ‘in kind’ support from commercial organisations. 116 of 580 full or associate members voted, for a 20% turnout. The pre-specified criterion for a ‘clear majority’ (more than 60% of votes cast) was met for 4 out of 5 activities:

  1. Promoting commercially-sponsored educational events about stroke (e.g. on the BASP website and newsletter) – 68% support
  2. Offering exhibitor/sponsorship opportunities at BASP events (e.g. the BASP trainees meeting); NB this does not apply to the UK Stroke Forum – 84% support
  3. Offering BASP endorsement of commercial training courses (i.e. quality approval by the BASP Training & Education Committee, with review by the BASP Executive Committee) – 70% support
  4. Offering sponsorship of BASP Awards – 64% support
 
The BIASP Commercial Support Policy outlines BIASP’s principles and policy for engaging with commercial organisations regarding these four activities.

a. Responsibilities of BIASP

BIASP must maintain a high level of discipline, openness, integrity, and professionalism in managing any commercial sponsorship. BIASP’s independence and impartiality in advancing stroke medicine is of paramount importance.

Therefore, commercial support will not influence BIASP’s policies, or result in promotion of commercial organisations, products, or services. BIASP must ensure that all income and associated expenditure are appropriate and can be accounted for, and that commercial sponsors do not use sponsorship to influence clinical care (e.g. prescribing).

The views expressed by any commercial sponsor supporting BIASP financially are not necessarily those of BIASP. BIASP reserves the right to decline sponsorship opportunities which are not in line with its strategy or its other policies (e.g. sustainability). The final decision on all matters relating to sponsorship will remain with the BIASP Executive Committee.

BIASP does not sell or otherwise make available personal details of its members to commercial sponsors.

 

b. Responsibilities of commercial sponsors

Each commercial sponsor will clearly outline the potential costs and benefits of the sponsorship opportunity to the commercial organisation in advance.

When providing sponsorship, potential sponsors must refer to and adhere to their own code of practice as well as whichever of the following recommendations/guidance that are applicable:

  • The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry Code of Practice (https://www.abpi.org.uk/our-ethics/)
  • Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) organisational requirements for delivering independent CME that accelerates learning, change, and improvement in healthcare (https://www.accme.org/)
  • Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed) Code of Ethics on interactions and relationships with health care professionals (https://www.advamed.org/member-center/resource-library/advamed-code-of-ethics/)
  • PhRMA Code on Interactions with Health Care Professionals (https://www.phrma.org/resourcecenter/Topics/STEM/Code-on-Interactions-with-Health-Care-Professionals)
  • Compliance Program Guidance for Pharmaceutical Manufacturers from the Office of Inspector General of the US Department of Health and Human Services (https://oig.hhs.gov/compliance/compliance-guidance/index.asp)

£295 per event (1 social media post, promotion on the website and in the BIASP newsletter).

We define a commercially sponsored educational event or training course as one where a commercial organisation wholly funds the event or influences the content of the programme. The process of considering, assessing, and approving a commercially sponsored educational event or training course requires expertise and time, and requires a fee to be paid to BIASP by the commercial sponsor, without guarantee that the event or training course will be approved for promotion.

To obtain BIASP promotion for an event or training course by it being advertised in the BIASP newsletter, website or
social media channels:

  • The event organiser must submit the programme, details of its commercial vs. non-commercial funding and how the educational content was determined to the BIASP secretariat at least four months before the event or course. This will allow sufficient time for consideration by the Executive Committee at its next monthly meeting (that is not sooner than three weeks after receipt of the application), and sufficient time for promotion if the event or course is approved.
  • The Training & Education Committee will lead on the assessment of events and courses, supported by the BIASP Executive Committee.
  • The BIASP Training & Education Committee and Executive Committee members’ decisions will be guided by the requirements of the General Policy Statement above.
  • A final decision will be taken by the BIASP Executive Committee at a monthly meeting, using a vote if required to determine a simple majority, with the casting vote made by the President if there is no majority.
  • Decisions cannot be appealed by applicants.
  • Promotion of a commercially sponsored event or course will not contain any specific statement about endorsement by BIASP.

Sponsorship costs: Refer to event prospectus for specific pricing

This policy applies to BIASP events, which we define as those that are wholly organised by BIASP, including in-person and virtual events for full or associate members (e.g. the BIASP Trainees Meeting and the Virtual Learning Hub). This BIASP policy should be made available to organisers of events that are partly supported by BIASP (e.g. UK Stroke Forum, NIHR/BIASP research workshop, or conferences held jointly with other professional associations e.g. the Association of British Neurologists or the British Geriatrics Society), so that they can considered BIASP’s policy.

Commercial sponsorship of events enables BIASP to reduce the registration cost for attendees, encouraging attendance and allowing BIASP members to fulfil their CPD requirements within their study leave budget. Sponsorship of a BIASP event may be provided for an exhibition stand (virtual or in-person), virtual promotional materials for delegates (but not paper flyers in bags), banner advertising, or other opportunities with the financial value of the sponsorship being negotiated between BIASP and the commercial sponsor by mutual agreement.

Further details of fees are available on application to the BIASP secretariat. BIASP does not offer any sponsorship opportunities for company symposia within BIASP events. Commercial sponsors will not influence the educational content of the programme of a BIASP event.

To apply to sponsor a BIASP event:

  • The commercial sponsor must indicate its intent to the BIASP secretariat at least one month before the event.
  • This will allow sufficient time for consideration of BIASP’s policies by the commercial sponsor, and time for the proposal for commercial sponsorship to be considered by the Executive Committee at its next meeting.
  • The BIASP Executive Committee members’ decisions will be guided by the requirements of the General Policy Statement above.
  • A final decision will be taken by the BIASP Executive Committee at a monthly meeting, using a vote if required to determine a simple majority, with the casting vote made by the President if there is no majority. Decisions cannot be appealed by applicants.

£1,000 for an annual acknowledgment as award/bursary sponsor

BIASP awards include the Warlow prize for a presentation at the UK Stroke Forum, medical student essay prizes, Take Up Stroke Fellow bursaries, and the BIASP President’s Award. All prizes are awarded annually, but only some of the awards involve a cash prize or reimbursement. Several prizes were set up without any intent for them to be commercially sponsored. In future, some of the existing BIASP prizes and new BIASP prizes (e.g. BIASP medical student elective bursaries, quality improvement projects, or research awards) may be appropriate for commercial support.

Therefore, at present, commercial sponsorship of BIASP awards may involve a grant awarded to BIASP to support these BIASP awards, without any specific attribution to one award. Commercial sponsors of awards will be acknowledged on the BIASP website, but they will not influence the process of judging the awards and their identity will not be associated with any specific BIASP award.

To apply to sponsor BIASP awards:

The commercial sponsor must indicate its intent to the BIASP secretariat.

  • The President will lead on the assessment of applications, supported by the BIASP Executive Committee.
  • The President and Executive Committee members’ decisions will be guided by the requirements of the General Policy Statement above.
  • A final decision will be taken by the BIASP Executive Committee at a monthly meeting, using a vote if required to determine a simple majority, with the casting vote made by the President if there is no majority.
  • Decisions cannot be appealed by applicants 

August 2023 and every 2 years thereafter.