Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Markham on 11 May 2023 (HL7210), what progress they have made in developing and promoting to NHS trusts and integrated care systems in England an effective methodology for assessing value, including on patient experience and outcomes, and on whole system costs, rather than item price, when purchasing medical devices and consumables; and what future plans they have to do so.

The Department is working with NHS England and the NHS Supply Chain to develop and promote a standardised methodology for National Health Service trusts and integrated care systems (ICS) to assess value when procuring medical technologies, including devices and consumables. As part of this, the Department is engaging medical technology suppliers, patient forums, as well as broader networks of financial teams, clinicians, and NHS procurement professionals.

The methodology will provide a consistent and transparent approach to assessing value, for use at both the national and local levels. This aims to shift the majority of the weighting in procurement decisions towards value over upfront cost. The guidance will include a bank of questions, model answers, and scoring criteria showing how to assess defined values consistently, such as patient experience and outcomes, and whole system costs.

The Department will be testing this guidance with the NHS at the ICS and NHS trust level over the coming months, with the ambition to refine and publish the guidance in Autumn 2025.