Wound Dressings: Procurement

(asked on 16th May 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of NHS Supply Chain's decision to reduce the number of wound care products and suppliers available to the NHS on Medtech supply chain resilience; and in what way those procurement activities align with the Government Life Sciences' vision to increase UK Medtech manufacturing capability and capacity.


Answered by
Edward Argar Portrait
Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This question was answered on 15th June 2022

NHS Supply Chain balance the needs of product availability, choice, supply resilience and delivering value for money. The most widely used products are held in stock in the United Kingdom within the NHS Supply Chain network and suppliers are contractually obligated to hold additional minimum stock levels to service the framework contract for wound care products within distribution networks.

Expert clinicians in the National Wound Care Strategy Programme have contributed to the development of appropriate high-quality specifications for products, including a classification system which support clinical decisions on the selection of wound care products. This will provide greater clarity to clinicians on comparable products, make alternative products easier to identify and adopt in the event of supply disruption and enhance supply chain resilience.

The NHS Supply Chain’s procurement activity is not designed to increase the UK’s manufacturing capability and capacity. The Office of Life Science’s Life Sciences Innovation Manufacturing Fund, launched in March 2022, encourages growth in the sector’s capacity and capability. The forthcoming Medical Technologies Directorate’s strategy will align with the Life Sciences Vision to support increased domestic manufacturing.

Reticulating Splines