Asked by: Clive Jones (Liberal Democrat - Wokingham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps (a) his Department and (b) NHS England are taking to support the use of (a) medical devices and (b) diagnostic tools after piloting; and what funding his Department provides for such tools and devices.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The Department and NHS England provide support to innovators and systems across the innovation lifecycle, from ideation and design, through to adoption and scaling. A number of policies and programmes are targeted at the adoption of medical devices and diagnostic tools after piloting.
In February 2023, the Department published its first ever strategy for MedTech, as well as the One Year On Report in April 2024, outlining our priorities for improving the adoption and spread of safe, effective, and innovative medical technologies across the National Health Service.
To help innovators ‘find the front door’ of the NHS, the NHS Innovation Service supports the creation of an Innovation Record and enables support from at least one of 25 organisations, including the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), the Medicines Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority, the National Institute of Health Research, the Health Innovation Network, and the NHS Supply Chain, which provide support across research and testing, to adoption and spread. To date, this service has supported 870 innovations.
There are several programmes which directly support early-stage innovators and innovations in designing, developing, and scaling their innovations. The Clinical Entrepreneur Programme is the world's largest entrepreneurial workforce development programme. The NHS Innovation Accelerator provides innovators with support and mentorship to enable adoption of high impact products with demonstrable clinical benefit. The Small Business Research Initiative Healthcare funds the acceleration of innovations to tackle unmet health and care needs. The Innovative Device Access Pathway, with system partners, is supporting eight transformative technologies by providing regulatory and access requirements in route to market. Furthermore, NHS InSites supports the NHS to develop its innovation capability infrastructure.
To support later stage innovations with scale and adoption, there are two programmes that have been in place. The MedTech Funding Mandate aims to accelerate equitable patient access to selected NICE recommended technologies, with 12 technologies accelerated to date. Commissioners are mandated to fund these technologies from existing allocations. Additionally, the Health Tech Adoption and Accelerator Fund, investing approximately £28 million to integrated care boards in 2022/23, supports the procurement and implementation of 81 different technologies, mostly supporting virtual wards, at home management, and elective recovery. Spending decisions for use and expansion of new technology is subject to regular review as part of usual financial planning processes.
The adoption of innovative products across the NHS is supported by the Innovation Dynamic Purchasing System, aiming to reduce barriers to entry for small to medium size enterprises bringing innovation into the NHS.
Looking forward, a consultation on a proposed integrated rules-based pathway was launched by NHS England and the NICE in May 2024, which laid out the creation of a predictable, consistent pathway to access and adoption of medical technology. This would also support technology that had already been piloted to scale in the system. The consultation closed in September 2024 and responses are currently being reviewed.
Asked by: Josh Newbury (Labour - Cannock Chase)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of single-use items used by the National Health Service.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Delivering a Net Zero National Health Service report, published in October 2020, the NHS is committed to reducing its environmental impact, including by increasing the reuse and recycling of medical equipment. This report is available at the following link:
In October 2024, the Government published the Design for Life roadmap, a new strategy to transition away from all avoidable single-use medical technology products towards a functioning circular system by 2045. This roadmap is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/design-for-life-roadmap
The programme is expected to support the NHS by improving resilience, reducing waste, delivering cost savings, and achieving the NHS commitment to be net zero by 2045. The Design for Life roadmap provides examples of where NHS organisations are already achieving cost, waste, and carbon savings through reusing, remanufacturing, and recycling medical devices and equipment, in line with their local Green Plans.
In addition, NHS England collaborates with NHS Supply Chain to increase the availability of reusable products, and supports local NHS organisations to use more reusable medical devices and products, where it is safe to do so. For example, NHS England supported the Royal Surgical Colleges to develop the evidence-based Green Theatre Checklist to encourage sustainable theatre approaches, including promoting the use of reusable or remanufactured equipment, where appropriate. Further information on the checklist is available at the following link:
Additionally, NHS England is supporting innovation through the Small Business Research Initiative Healthcare programme, which has funded a project to support reuse of surgical textiles, with further information available at the following link:
https://sbrihealthcare.co.uk/impact-case-studies/case-studies/revolution-zero
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how his Department plans to integrate the National Programme for a Greener NHS with (a) the use of upcycled and reusable medical garments and (b) other unsustainable initiatives to help the NHS meet its net zero targets.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service has committed to reaching net zero by 2045 for the emissions it influences through the goods and services it buys from its partners and suppliers. This includes a greater focus on procuring and using sustainable and reusable medical garments where this is safe and effective, such as reusable sterile gowns.
To support this, NHS England is working with NHS organisations to share best practice and evidence-based approaches, understand operational challenges, for example, requirements for laundry infrastructure, and support the inclusion of lots to procure reusable medical textile services within relevant procurement frameworks. NHS England supported the Royal Surgical Colleges to develop and promote the Green Theatre Checklist to encourage sustainable theatre approaches, including medical garments. The checklist is available at the following link:
NHS England is also supporting innovation through the Small Business Research Initiative Healthcare programme, which has funded a project to support reuse of surgical textiles. More information is available at the following link:
https://sbrihealthcare.co.uk/impact-case-studies/case-studies/revolution-zero
The Department continues to work closely with the Greener NHS programme in NHS England to support the NHS to meet its net zero targets, including a focus on procuring and using sustainable and reusable products where this is safe and effective.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the use of (a) reusable and (b) otherwise sustainable medical garments within the NHS.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service has committed to reaching net zero by 2045 for the emissions it influences through the goods and services it buys from its partners and suppliers. This includes a greater focus on procuring and using sustainable and reusable medical garments where this is safe and effective, such as reusable sterile gowns.
To support this, NHS England is working with NHS organisations to share best practice and evidence-based approaches, understand operational challenges, for example, requirements for laundry infrastructure, and support the inclusion of lots to procure reusable medical textile services within relevant procurement frameworks. NHS England supported the Royal Surgical Colleges to develop and promote the Green Theatre Checklist to encourage sustainable theatre approaches, including medical garments. The checklist is available at the following link:
NHS England is also supporting innovation through the Small Business Research Initiative Healthcare programme, which has funded a project to support reuse of surgical textiles. More information is available at the following link:
https://sbrihealthcare.co.uk/impact-case-studies/case-studies/revolution-zero
The Department continues to work closely with the Greener NHS programme in NHS England to support the NHS to meet its net zero targets, including a focus on procuring and using sustainable and reusable products where this is safe and effective.
Asked by: Jess Asato (Labour - Lowestoft)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the NHS to procure (a) sustainable and (b) upcycled medical garments.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Health Service has committed to reaching net zero by 2045 for the emissions it influences through the goods and services it buys from its partners and suppliers. This includes a greater focus on procuring and using sustainable and reusable medical garments where this is safe and effective, such as reusable sterile gowns.
To support this, NHS England is working with NHS organisations to share best practice and evidence-based approaches, understand operational challenges, for example, requirements for laundry infrastructure, and support the inclusion of lots to procure reusable medical textile services within relevant procurement frameworks. NHS England supported the Royal Surgical Colleges to develop and promote the Green Theatre Checklist to encourage sustainable theatre approaches, including medical garments. The checklist is available at the following link:
NHS England is also supporting innovation through the Small Business Research Initiative Healthcare programme, which has funded a project to support reuse of surgical textiles. More information is available at the following link:
https://sbrihealthcare.co.uk/impact-case-studies/case-studies/revolution-zero
The Department continues to work closely with the Greener NHS programme in NHS England to support the NHS to meet its net zero targets, including a focus on procuring and using sustainable and reusable products where this is safe and effective.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how the additional £95 million investment in dementia care has been allocated.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Mission was launched in August 2022 with £95 million of Government funding. There is now more than £120 million of committed funding to the mission, which will be invested into three key pillars. The first pillar centres on biomarkers and experimental medicine, and will receive £50 million of the funding for the mission, with the intention of securing match funding from industry partners. As part of this pillar, Innovate UK launched a Small Business Research Initiative competition, with the aim of accelerating innovations in clinical biomarker tools and technologies for dementia, where organisations could apply for a share of £6 million of funding out of the allocated £50 million. These technologies will enable the discovery, validation, and implementation of a suite of decision-enabling biomarkers to help transform clinical trials and precision therapies. The competition closed on 4 September 2023, and the recipients awarded a portion of the £6 million will be announced soon.
The second pillar will focus on clinical trial infrastructure and innovation, with two recently announced initiatives to support its delivery. The first of these initiatives is the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Dementia-Translational Research Collaboration Trials Network, with almost £50 million of funding over five years. This will expand the United Kingdom’s early phase clinical trial capabilities for dementia, speeding up the development of new treatments. The second initiative is the Clinical Trials Delivery Accelerator, focused on dementia, also named the Dementia Accelerator. This was announced in the Autumn Statement 2023, in response to Lord O’Shaughnessy’s independent review into commercial clinical trials in the UK, with up to £20 million of additional funding.
The third pillar will be focused on end-to-end implementation, specifically on aligning translational research, clinical practice, and regulatory frameworks to prepare health-systems for new dementia medicines. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, NHS England, the Department, the devolved administrations, and the Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Mission are already working closely together to plan for the implementation of new dementia medicines, should they gain approval in the UK.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South and South Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how the £95 million investment in dementia clinical (a) trials and (b) innovative research will be allocated across the Mission’s pillars of (i) innovations in biomarkers, data and digital and imaging technologies, (ii) increasing the number and speed of UK-based clinical trials for research into dementia and neurodegeneration and (iii) end-to-end implementation.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson
The Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Mission was launched in August 2022 with £95 million of Government funding. There is now more than £120 million of committed funding to the mission, which will be invested into three key pillars. The first pillar centres on biomarkers and experimental medicine, and will receive £50 million of the funding for the mission, with the intention of securing match funding from industry partners. As part of this pillar, Innovate UK launched a Small Business Research Initiative competition, with the aim of accelerating innovations in clinical biomarker tools and technologies for dementia, where organisations could apply for a share of £6 million of funding out of the allocated £50 million. These technologies will enable the discovery, validation, and implementation of a suite of decision-enabling biomarkers to help transform clinical trials and precision therapies. The competition closed on 4 September 2023, and the recipients awarded a portion of the £6 million will be announced soon.
The second pillar will focus on clinical trial infrastructure and innovation, with two recently announced initiatives to support its delivery. The first of these initiatives is the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s Dementia-Translational Research Collaboration Trials Network, with almost £50 million of funding over five years. This will expand the United Kingdom’s early phase clinical trial capabilities for dementia, speeding up the development of new treatments. The second initiative is the Clinical Trials Delivery Accelerator, focused on dementia, also named the Dementia Accelerator. This was announced in the Autumn Statement 2023, in response to Lord O’Shaughnessy’s independent review into commercial clinical trials in the UK, with up to £20 million of additional funding.
The third pillar will be focused on end-to-end implementation, specifically on aligning translational research, clinical practice, and regulatory frameworks to prepare health-systems for new dementia medicines. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, NHS England, the Department, the devolved administrations, and the Dame Barbara Windsor Dementia Mission are already working closely together to plan for the implementation of new dementia medicines, should they gain approval in the UK.
Asked by: Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to his oral contribution on 26 March 2019 to Question 910028 on Antimicrobial Resistance: Vaccines, what steps his Department is taking to stimulate research and development into vaccines, including for tuberculosis, as an alternative to antibiotics.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
The United Kingdom national action plan on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), published on 24 January 2019, contains the commitment to continue to support research into new and alternative treatments, vaccines and diagnostic tests.
The Government has invested over £350 million in AMR research and development since 2014, including research funding calls with vaccination in scope, most recently the £32 million capital funding call lead by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), and the Small Business Research Initiative competition which announced its awards in January 2019. We would expect to consider the role of vaccines for AMR in future programmatic funding.
The UK supports the development of vaccines through UK Aid programmes such as the Global AMR Innovation Fund (GAMRIF) and the UK Vaccine Network. GAMRIF is a £50 million fund to support innovative research and development for AMR, for the benefit of people in low- and middle-income countries, and invests £30 million into preventative measures in human and animal health, including vaccines for AMR not including tuberculosis (TB). The fund includes a £1 million work package with the Bacterial Vaccinology Network which supports early stage research and development around the world to drive the development and uptake of vaccines for AMR in humans and animals.
The UK supports TB vaccine research through the Medical Research Council (MRC), with support to the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership, and through the Joint Global Health Clinical Trials programme represented by the Department for International Development (DFID), MRC, NIHR and Wellcome. DFID’s Agriculture research team is supporting work on bovine TB vaccine development in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Asked by: Norman Lamb (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to his oral contribution on 26 March 2019 to Question 910028 on Antimicrobial Resistance: Vaccines, what funding he plans to make to stimulate research and development into vaccines as an alternative to antibiotics.
Answered by Seema Kennedy
The United Kingdom national action plan on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), published on 24 January 2019, contains the commitment to continue to support research into new and alternative treatments, vaccines and diagnostic tests.
The Government has invested over £350 million in AMR research and development since 2014, including research funding calls with vaccination in scope, most recently the £32 million capital funding call lead by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), and the Small Business Research Initiative competition which announced its awards in January 2019. We would expect to consider the role of vaccines for AMR in future programmatic funding.
The UK supports the development of vaccines through UK Aid programmes such as the Global AMR Innovation Fund (GAMRIF) and the UK Vaccine Network. GAMRIF is a £50 million fund to support innovative research and development for AMR, for the benefit of people in low- and middle-income countries, and invests £30 million into preventative measures in human and animal health, including vaccines for AMR not including tuberculosis (TB). The fund includes a £1 million work package with the Bacterial Vaccinology Network which supports early stage research and development around the world to drive the development and uptake of vaccines for AMR in humans and animals.
The UK supports TB vaccine research through the Medical Research Council (MRC), with support to the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership, and through the Joint Global Health Clinical Trials programme represented by the Department for International Development (DFID), MRC, NIHR and Wellcome. DFID’s Agriculture research team is supporting work on bovine TB vaccine development in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason Tuberculosis was excluded from the scope of the £10 million Small Business Research Initiative competition on antimicrobial resistance in humans.
Answered by Steve Brine
The Small Business Research Initiative competition is funded by a Department of Health and Social Care non-Official Development Assistance budget. Research specifically on Tuberculosis (TB) pathogens was deprioritised for this competition as there are established global funds targeting the development of new treatments for TB.
The United Kingdom is contributing to a reduction in drug resistant TB by implementing the Collaborative TB Strategy for England, which parallels and integrates with the aims and actions of the UK Antimicrobial Resistance strategy.