Guidelines on the Prevention for Conflict of Interests in Public Procurement: A Case Study of Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University

Abstract

Conflict of interest in procurement is considered to be a kind of corruption because it involves seeking personal benefits by breaking the law and violating the code of conduct. Government procurement must be carried out with extreme care and transparency. Most importantly, every process must be inspectable in order to prevent any corruption in procurement. The exploitation of benefit from government purchasing might violate laws and related regulations, the misuse of power or official misconduct leads to unfairness in the process and finally provides both direct and indirect benefits to a particular group or even their own party. This kind of act is considered a threat to the nation. The prevention of conflict of interests in the Faculty of Medicine, Siriraj Hospital’s procurement could be accomplished in order to 1) Study the theory involved in laws and related regulations about conflict of interest in procurement 2) Study the approach to prevent the conflict of interest in procurement and 3) Committee and officials, who are in charge of the procurement should be reminded of their duty to protect the benefits of the Faculty rather than their own benefit. By doing this, the corruption would be prevented and the officials would process their duty with honesty for the benefits of the people and the organization. In conclusion: 1) Implement laws and regulations concerning conflict of interest in procurement that are consistently practiced 2) Other organizations can adopt this theory to their own purposes 3) Committees and officials, who are in charge of the procurement, should be aware and be conscientious of protecting the benefits of the Faculty rather than their own benefit, and also avoid all the related conflicts of interest in order to provide true benefits for the people and the organization.