Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on the (a) establishment and (b) delivery of the MHRA Early Access Service.

In July of this year the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) published a statement of policy intent for the development and implementation of an Early Access Service for innovative medical devices. The statement of policy intent is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statement-of-policy-intent-early-access-to-innovative-medical-devices/statement-of-policy-intent-early-access-to-innovative-medical-devices#next-steps

The service aims to speed up safe access to innovative medical devices for patients, supporting the Government’s Life Sciences Sector Plan. The statement set out our intention to work with stakeholders across the life science ecosystem to further develop the policy and to build the internal capability required to deliver the service throughout 2025. Further information on our plans will be provided in early 2026.