PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
(10 February 2025)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will hold discussions with (a) people that use catheters, (b) clinicians and (c) manufacturers on the potential impact of the proposals set out in the document entitled, Proposals for updating Part IX of the Drug Tariff: Medical Devices available for prescribing in Primary Care, published in October 2023, on (i) the ability of clinicians to prescribe the most appropriate product for patients, (ii) patient (A) experience and (B) outcomes and (iii) costs to the NHS.

Asked by:
Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat)

Officials in the Department have been engaging with people that use catheters, clinicians, and manufacturers on the proposals to update Part IX of the Drug Tariff. We will continue to do so as the work progresses. Following the consultation on proposed updates to Part IX of the Drug Tariff, the Department commissioned a patient survey and focus groups with people that use products available for prescribing, including catheters. This has been hugely important in gathering input from patients about what features they value in medical devices used outside of hospital. A report is currently being compiled on the findings and will be shared with interested parties.

Eight Expert Reference Groups covering the range of medical devices available on Part IX of the Drug Tariff, including urological care, were established to gather input from experts, including clinicians. In addition to the consultation, since August, manufacturers have been invited to comment on the draft iterations of the recategorization work and assessment framework. Now that the recategorization work is nearly finalised, with a view to resharing with stakeholders, the analysis is being updated to assess any impact on costs to the National Health Service. This work does not change the fact that Part IX of the Drug Tariff is a list of available products for prescribing and clinicians can still select the most appropriate product for patients. The aim is to increase comparability of the many thousands of products available for prescribing.

Answered by:
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