Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment with NHS England of the potential merits of left ventricular assist devices as long-term therapy for patients ineligible for transplantation.

NHS England has a commissioning specification for using ventricular assist devices (VADs) as a bridge to transplantation, or as a bridge to a decision on transplant suitability. The use of VADs as a treatment and destination therapy for patients who are not eligible for a transplant, is not routinely commissioned. NHS England has recently received a policy proposition for use of VADs as long-term destination therapy for selected patients with advanced heart failure. This proposition is currently under evaluation in line with the published Policy Methods Process, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/methods-national-clinical-policies/