Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help ensure that patients living with incontinence are (a) able to access a sufficient number of products to meet their clinical needs and (b) not constrained by a limit on supply.

Continence care needs may be managed by individuals in a range of ways. Products can be bought from supermarkets, pharmacies or mail order and are available on prescription under the National Health Service. For a continence product to be able to be prescribed, it must be listed on ‘Part IX’ of the Drug Tariff.

There are over 3,000 listed continence products on Part IX available to be prescribed. Of these, over 1,700 are catheters. On application to Part IX, an assessment of products is made to check they are safe and of good quality, are appropriate for prescribing and are cost-effective. These products can all be prescribed where the clinician is assured that the clinical condition warrants a prescription.

We are not aware of any current supply disruptions and the Department works closely with the Devolved Administrations, NHS England, NHS Supply Chain, and suppliers to maintain continuity of supply across a broad range of products to minimise the impact of any potential supply disruptions on patient care.  The Department proactively monitors supply conditions and engages extensively with industry to proactively identify potential threats to the supply of medical equipment.