Med Tech-related health technology assessments in Wales in October 2025

Health Technology Wales (HTW) is a national body working to improve the quality of care in Wales. It is funded by the Welsh Government and hosted within NHS Wales, but is independent of both. HTW covers medical devices, diagnostics, procedures, psychological therapies, models of care, and social care support, excluding pharmaceuticals.

HTW uses a staged process of assessment by developing three types of documents. The topic exploration report (TER) aimed to assess whether there is enough evidence to proceed with a full appraisal and whether the topic meets the appraisal selection criteria. Based on the TER conclusions, HTW's Assessment Group decides whether to progress this topic further. If yes, the following two documents can be developed: Evidence Appraisal Report (EAR) and Guidance (GUI). Recommendations are not mandatory; the status of HTW guidance is "adopt or justify," meaning that the local health board and other relevant bodies are expected to report on how they have considered the appraisal and guidance. If they have chosen not to adopt HTW guidance, they are asked to outline their rationale and justify their decision.

In October 2025, HTW accomplished two full appraisals, published Evidence Appraisal Reports and Guidances with the following recommendations:

• Digital interventions for chronic kidney disease (specifically, KidneyBeam) can be routinely adopted for people with chronic kidney disease, with evidence showing improvement in quality of life, self-management skills, confidence, and physical function compared with a waitlist control. A published analysis also found the intervention to be cost-effective. HTW recommends viewing Kidney Beam as an additional option alongside existing programmes in Wales, noting that other digital interventions exist but currently lack sufficient evidence of clinical or economic benefit;
• At-home video monitoring for the diagnosis and management of epilepsy, including AI-based systems, is promising but lacks sufficient clinical and economic evidence for routine use. Limited effectiveness data exist - such as good hospital-based performance of the Nelli system (by Neuro Event Labs) - but evidence in home settings is sparse. Opportunistic home videos can aid clinicians, but economic impact can’t be assessed without stronger clinical data. HTW recommends robust prospective studies on diagnostic accuracy, quality of life, and acceptability in real home environments.

In addition, one TER was published in the e-Health field, for which HTW's Assessment Group decided to proceed with the full appraisal. Conversely, for five TERs in the IVD, e-health, gastrointestinal, and endoscopy fields, the HTW’s Assessment Group has decided not to proceed with a full appraisal.

See the full details here.

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