Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of the use of silver-coated catheters in hospitals on (a) infection rates and (b) costs; and if he will make a statement.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has assessed the clinical and cost-effectiveness of silver-based catheters versus hydrophilic and silicone catheters in reducing healthcare-associated urinary tract infections in both primary and secondary settings.

The guidance is available here:

www.nice.org.uk/researchrecommendation/indwelling-urinary-catheters-catheter-selection-for-patients-using-a-long-term-indwelling-urinary-catheter-what-is-the-clinical-and-cost-effectiveness-of-impregnated-versus-hydrophilic-versus-silicone-catheters-in-reducing-symptomatic-urinary-tract-infect

This NICE guidance revealed a gap in the evidence for the effectiveness of indwelling catheters in the long term, with further evidence needed to assess the clinical and cost-effectiveness of silver-coated catheters.