Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether NHS England's high cost device steering group sought advice from clinicians and other healthcare professionals before recommending the removal of implantable cardiac defibrillators from the high cost device exclusion list.
Membership of the high cost devices steering group includes clinicians, commissioners and financial departments from trusts. NHS England also included discussion about the high cost devices being removed from tariff in the expert working group meeting on cardiology on the proposed price relativities. NHS England and Monitor are currently engaging on proposals in the national tariff and will consider feedback on proposals in the consultation on the 2016/17 National Tariff.