Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether NHS England plans to establish reference prices as ceiling prices above which trusts will not be reimbursed.

Trusts are obliged to charge the National Health Service the cost of the implantable devices on a pass through basis, i.e. the cost invoiced by the supplier of the device. The average prices have been issued to commissioners to help them assess value for money on device expenditure and identify potential areas for future efficiency improvements. NHS England’s current approach is not to impose a ceiling price however; we will be working closely with providers where they are not taking advantage of current market rates for devices.