Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the formal roles and responsibilities of NHS England’s Specialised Services Devices Programme (SSDP) are; whether the responsibilities of the SSDP have been expanded to include the evaluation and procurement of medical devices; and how his Department plans to regulate the evaluation and procurement of medical devices by the SSDP.

NHS England owns the Specialised Services Devices Programme (SSDP), a national purchase and supply system for specific categories of devices. The NHS Supply Chain provides procurement and legal compliance support for trusts with value for money tendering in the open market, in line with Public Procurement Regulations, and for putting in place fit for purpose local contracts. The published information on the roles and responsibilities of the SSDP, including evaluation and procurement, is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/spec-services/key-docs/medical-devices/

The Department is undertaking several initiatives to address unwarranted price variation in medical device spend, including specialised services, such as: development of a national product information management system; reform of the listing process for community prescribed medical technology; commissioning the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to undertake assessments of existing product categories; and the development of a methodology for value-based procurement. The Department will work with the SSDP to review any areas of unwarranted price variation for medical devices managed through the SSDP.