Health Service Medical Supplies (Costs) Bill (First sitting)

Debate between James Berry and Maggie Throup

Committee Debate: 1st sitting: House of Commons
Tuesday 8th November 2016 Public Bill Committees

[Maggie Throup (Erewash) (Con)]

Q I have another question for Mr Kennedy, and anyone else if they want to add to it. Is the definition of medical supplies under the National Health Service Act 2006 sufficient, or do you think it needs to be clarified further?

Philip Kennedy: Again, I welcome the question. The definition envisaged here is extremely broad. It is difficult to define exactly what is a medical device or a medical technology. I think that some of the wording is “or any product”. I understand the desire to give this a wide scope, but it is extremely important that we differentiate between a medical device or a diagnostic product and a pharmaceutical or a generic pharmaceutical. They are quite distinct industries, very different in their structure and scope. We would welcome a much tighter definition and a tighter definition for the companies that produce those defined products of the intent—of what exactly is being asked of them by the legislation.

[James Berry (Kingston and Surbiton) (Con)]

Q We have had a submission from the British In Vitro Diagnostics Association, which says that if its products are included within the definition, it does not envisage that the new information required under clause 6 would be too burdensome and that much of the information that it would be required to provide is information that companies record anyway. Do you disagree with that analysis?

Philip Kennedy: I do disagree with that. From our members’ perspective, the data, as we understand it—we would greatly seek some clarity on exactly what data are being requested—are not routinely collected, particularly for small companies. Of course we collect data for tax purposes, productivity and all the usual parts of running a business, but data on profitability at a product level would be a huge additional burden for companies that are relatively small in scope. They would not normally do that. Even if the information was available, I am not sure how it would be analysed and reported on effectively, to give the information that is sought. We are happy to collect data to run our businesses, but the definition of what is being asked here is something that we would greatly appreciate clarity on.