2.1           The person who receives the invitation or request should clarify:

·     Whether the invitation/request is issued in a personal capacity or to AAM; and if AAM,

·     What remuneration, if any, is available.

 

2.2           Invitations and requests for AAM (as opposed to personal) input should be circulated, with a covering note about any fee and the perceived priority.

 

2.3           The Executive decides via email, conference call or meeting, whether or not AAM should accept the invitation/request and the most appropriate individual AAM team member(s) to carry it out.

 

2.4           Where an invitation/request is accepted, further action and communication is handed on to the designated team member(s).

 

2.5           Where an invitation or request is declined, the person who originally received it is responsible for declining.

3.1           There may be reasons why an individual Director wants to accept an invitation or request on behalf of AAM, even where the Executive does not deem it to be a priority. That may be because, for example,

·     The request is a favour from a personal contact;

·     The individual feels a particular personal interest in the subject matter or event; or

·     There is a potential opportunity to develop a relationship or project which might be a future business opportunity to AAM.

 

3.2           In such cases, the individual should declare their interest in accepting the invitation or providing input on a pro-bono basis.

 

3.3           It is the Executive’s decision whether to agree to AAM being represented, even where the input is to be on a pro-bono basis.

 

3.4           Any fees involved should be paid to AAM rather than the individual.

 

3.5           If the input results in an income-generating project for AAM with a sufficient margin to cover the cost of the original unpaid time, over and above the agreed contribution to AAM core costs, the individual will normally be entitled to recover the cost of the original unpaid time spent, at their standard AAM rate.

4.1           Where the AAM Executive identifies a need for significant consultancy input for an AAM project (normally over 5 days work), explicit consideration will be given to the most appropriate source of input. The Executive will give consideration to:

·     Legitimate concern of funders to ensure that the most appropriate and cost effective resources are used for projects;

·     Need to ensure transparency and equity in the decision-making process;

 ·        Need to avoid generating, or appearing to generate, work for existing Ask About Medicines Directors;

 ·        The value of Directors’ experience and knowledge of Ask About Medicines as well as any specific expertise they may have;

 ·        Urgency of the project; and

 ·        The cost in terms of time and effort of inviting third parties to bid for the work.

 

4.2           Decisions to invite AAM Directors to do project work amounting to more than 5 days of input on a specific project will be explained and documented in the Board minutes of AAMW Ltd.

5.1           The AAM Executive Directors and Project Director may undertake other consultancy work in areas related to the arena in which Ask About Medicines operates.  In the interests of transparency, they have agreed:

·       To ensure that, throughout preparatory discussions and the period of any such work, clients understand clearly the capacity in which the work is being undertaken (ie as an independent consultant rather than as a representative of Ask About Medicines).

·       To keep the Ask About Medicines team informed, through regular update reports, of related work that could potentially impact on or inform the work of Ask About Medicines.  This information is purely to ensure the best possible understanding and communication with external stakeholders.   

·       To document Directors’ interests annually in the Board minutes of AAMW Ltd.