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Nothing new in this. The big medical companies have done it for years. I was in Zimbabwe in 1998 and a chartered plane arrived full of doctors from the USA for a 'conference' run by one of the drugs companies. I spoke to some of the docs. An all expenses paid week on safari, with one afternoon set aside as the conference to justify it.

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That's what procurement is, not just for doctors and healthcare across all aspects of commerce.

The people who are selling goods treat the people who are buying them well.

But when it's effectively public money then there should be no 'gifts' sought or given. The decision to buy a product or service should always be based on best value for money.

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I agree with you about the "gifts" but the "value for money" is a bit, well, wishy-washy, for lack of a better phrase. What would be the best "value for money" for instance if you had the choice of two drugs to treat a disease, both of which cost the same, when one drug cured all symptoms in 50% of cases (and had no effect on the other 50%) and the other drug cured 50% of symptoms in 100% of cases. I know that's a very specific hypothetical situation but I'm trying to make a point. I know what you were meaning, well I hope I do, but I don't think "value for money" is the right phrase to use for this - I don't know what phrase is, though.

Its simple really. You specify what you are seeking to achieve from the outset, so that every potential supplier is clear on what they need to do to meet this requirement, and measure the 'value' of the offers against the set of parameters, not just the cost. Each element - cost, quality, time, etc - would have a 'value'. Whether that's 'value for money' in the truest sense is debatable, but that's what should be done in procurement.

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