Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of NHS prescription of Polivalve as a mechanism of helping people with heart valve problems.

NHS England and NHS Improvement with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and other bodies access HealthTechConnect to identify innovative products for use in the National Health Service, including those still in development. In the specific case of introducing a polymeric heart valve device (PoliValve) it is noted however that this is still in research and has not yet had clinical trials in humans. It would also need to have the appropriate regulatory approvals in place that relate to safety of medical devices. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.healthtechconnect.org.uk

We are aware that clinicians view this as a potentially exciting development if it can be demonstrated it is both effective and safe compared to current therapeutic options.