(1)  A person must not discharge a responsibility in respect of a patient under this Act if the person has a clear conflict of interest.

(2)  For the purposes of subsection (1) , a person has a clear conflict of interest if he or she knows or reasonably ought to know that the discharge of the responsibility could, whether on account of an interest in a facility used in the patient's treatment or otherwise, confer a direct or indirect financial benefit on the person or a close associate of the person.

(3)  For a health professional, a contravention of subsection (1) constitutes professional misconduct of the most serious kind unless the health professional concerned establishes that –

(a) by reason of an emergency or other special circumstances, the health professional had no reasonable option but to discharge the responsibility for the patient's immediate health or safety or for the immediate protection of others; or

(b) the Tribunal or the Chief Psychiatrist, after being informed by the health professional of the potential for a conflict of interest, sanctioned in advance the discharge of the responsibility.

(4)  For the purposes of this section, a person is taken to be a close associate of another person (an MHA provider ) if the first-mentioned person is –

(a) a proprietary company in which the MHA provider is a shareholder; or

(b) a public company in which the MHA provider is directly or indirectly a substantial shareholder; or

(c) a beneficiary under a trust or an object of a discretionary trust of which the MHA provider is a trustee; or

(d) a business or commercial partner of the MHA provider; or

(e) the employer or an employee of the MHA provider; or

(f) a person from whom the MHA provider has received, or might reasonably be expected to receive, a fee, commission or other reward for providing professional or other services; or

(g) the spouse or partner of the MHA provider; or

(h) the son, daughter, brother, sister, mother or father of the MHA provider or their spouse or partner.

(5)  In this section –

financial benefit does not include the receipt of a salary or professional fees;

partner means partner within the meaning of the Relationships Act 2003 ;

patient includes a prospective patient.