Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of changing restrictions to allow the use of the LifeVac choking-prevention device in (a) school and nursery settings and (b) other environments.

The regulatory approach adopted by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in regards to LifeVac and other airway clearance device products placed on the United Kingdom market seeks to balance the need to support innovative products to be introduced whilst recognising that for such products it is extremely difficult to generate extensive pre-market clinical data to demonstrate performance and safety.

The use of suction devices does not currently fit within the current basic life support protocols in the UK and therefore the MHRA has agreed with these manufacturers that they will take all reasonable steps to ensure that their product should only be used in certain situations.