Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department plans to develop to help support life sciences SMEs to prepare evidence dossiers that will be compatible with Innovator Passport standards to enable rapid access to NHS procurement.

The Department and NHS England are committed to reducing procurement friction to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The development of the Innovator Passport will include close engagement with industry, including SMEs, to ensure that the approach taken and the implementation reflects the needs of SMEs, including the provision of clear guidance and ongoing support. To support this, the Department is developing a digital product comparison platform called MedTech Compass which will align with the new National Health Service Innovator Passport and provide improved visibility of the products available from SMEs. The Department is also launching Value Based Procurement Standard Guidance early next year, to provide a consistent and transparent approach to assessing medical technology. The guidance includes a bank of questions and model answers which outline the types of evidence that should be provided by bidders, and followed close engagement with industry to develop.