Commissioning

On October 3, 2024, NHS England published an updated work plan for specialized clinical commissioning policies development. One Med Tech-related policy in the orthopedic field was added to the work plan. No policies have been published since the previous update. The status of ongoing policies was updated.

On September 11, 2024, NHS England published an updated work plan for specialized clinical commissioning policies development. One MedTech-related policy was added to the program on long-term left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) for destination therapy in adults with heart failure. No new policies were published.

On December 7, 2023, NHS England confirmed the next steps in delegating commissioning responsibilities for specialised services to local commissioners - integrated care boards (ICBs). In the first step, selected specialised services have been delegated to Joint Committees of ICBs and NHS England Regions since April 2023. The next steps include the full delegation of suitable services to certain ICBs from April 2024. Regardless of delegation status, NHS England will remain the accountable commissioner for specialised services and responsible for developing national service specifications and clinical commissioning policies.

On October 10, 2023, NHS England published an updated work plan for specialized clinical commissioning policies development (as of October 2, 2023). Two MedTech-related policies were added to the program: Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery for essential tremor in adults; Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy for the treatment of primary kidney cancer. The status of ongoing policies was updated.

In June 2023, NHS England published two new specialized service specifications for pediatric photon radiotherapy and gender incongruence in children and young people. These documents define national standards for the provision of specialized services, including aims, outcomes, model of provision, patient pathway, inclusion criteria, and requirements for the facilities and staff.

In May 2023, the latest set of guidance (List 3) of the Evidence-based Interventions (EBI) Programme was published. The program is run by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC), supported by NHS England and NICE. Ten procedures were added to the List across a range of medical specialties, including breast surgery, gastrointestinal surgery, cardiovascular, urology, and ophthalmology. It is expected that where treatment criteria outlined in the List for the intervention are met, it would be routinely funded.

In late April, NHS Accelerated Access Collaborative introduced the Health Technology Navigation Pathway Tool to help innovators adopt new technologies into the NHS. The Tool breaks the innovation journey down into 25 steps, themed around the five key phases of the product lifecycle, from creation to commissioning and adoption. For each step, the schematic flowchart outlines key organizations to engage with, regulatory insights, best practice approaches, policies, guidelines, to-do lists, and required outputs.

In February 2023, NHS England released the position statement on Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) and Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement (SAVR) for symptomatic, severe aortic stenosis in adults to support elective performance. Previously, NHS England was commissioning TAVI at high surgical risk. This new position statement sets criteria for intermediate and low-surgical risk patients who are eligible for TAVI.

On February 1, 2023, the Treatment Council made its first two recommendations based on the major analysis reports regarding handheld focused ultrasound in emergency medicine and artificial intelligence as decision support for colonoscopy. The adoption of these technologies was not recommended.

In late January 2023, NHS England published an update of the Specialized Services Policy Pipeline (as of January 18, 2022). No new MedTech-related Clinical Commissioning Policies were added to the work program. One new policy on catheter ablation for paroxysmal and persistent atrial fibrillation was published since the previous update. The status of ongoing policies was updated as well.

In December 2022, NHS England published an update of the Specialized Services Policy Pipeline (as of December 6, 2022). No new MedTech-related Clinical Commissioning Policies were added to the work program, and three new policies were published in the period from September 6, 2022, to December 6, 2022. The status of ongoing policies was updated as well.

On November 25, 2022, the Treatment Council (Behandlingsråd) announced the third topic selected for major analyses (større analyser) for 2023. The selected topic is regarding the non-invasive treatment of obstructive sleep apnea.