Under reforms introduced by Andrew Lansley, £67 billion is given to 211 GP-led clinical commissioning groups

Groups of family doctors who control local NHS budgets have handed at least £2.4 billion of taxpayers’ money to organisations that their members own or work for, The Times can reveal.

GP-led groups are responsible for spending NHS funds locally, creating the potential for conflicts of interest because doctors can effectively pay themselves for clinical services.

An investigation by The Times and the BMJ found that such conflicts have become routine, with a third of groups giving contracts to ventures in which their board members have financial or professional stakes.

Under reforms introduced by Andrew Lansley, the former health secretary, £67 billion is given to 211 GP-led clinical commissioning groups each year to buy services for local patients. Each group is run by a board