UK

NHS England is advising a temporary pause on any new migrations to the central supply route for high-cost tariff-excluded devices (HCTEDs) so that NHS suppliers can devote maximum operational effort to the COVID-19 action plan. If an NHS provider wants to complete an HCTED category migration, they will address this with their respective implementing manager for the NHS Supply Chain.

In May 2020, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published only two new Medtech innovation briefings (for cytokine adsorption devices for treating respiratory failure in people with COVID-19 and space from Depression (SilverCloud) for treating adults with depression).

In response to the Covid-19 outbreak, NHSX looks for remote monitoring technology suppliers to help scale solutions across the UK. The organization invited technology companies to apply in a tender notice published on May 15.

Public Health England has carried out a number of rapid evaluations of commercial serological tests for their suitability for detecting the production of COVID-19 antibodies. Abbott SARS-CoV-2 IgG assay and the Roche Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 serology assay were evaluated by Public Health England.

On 24 April 2020, NHSX, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and the Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) have announced 18 innovative digital solutions being awarded up to £25,000 under the TechForce19 challenge.

NHSX provides funding through 'Techforce 19' to innovators who can find digital ways to benefit those in need of help, including those in need of mental health support and social care. The technology is intended to help people who might be most impacted by the long term effects of remaining housebound during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March-April, MTRC introduced a number of changes in the educational seminars on reimbursement systems in the Czech Republic and England and released additional modules about reimbursement of in-vitro diagnostic tests in Russia and Turkey.

In April 2020, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published only one new medical technologies guidance (for PneuX to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia) and two Medtech innovation briefings (for Lifelight First for monitoring vital signs and myCOPD for self-management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).

The Clinical Coding and Schedule Development (CCSD) group develops and maintains procedural and diagnostics nomenclature for private payers in England. New procedure codes concern pediatric cataract involving lensectomy with or without lens implant, pediatric cataract involving lens aspiration and implant, delivery of a fraction MR Linac adaptive planned radiotherapy, low-level laser therapy for inflammation/pain relief and others. The codes are introduced with a recommended adoption date being the 1st of May 2020. The documents also contain a list of textual changes in codes and unacceptable combinations.

In March 2020, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published four new interventional procedure guidance (for bilateral cervicosacropexy or vaginosacropexy using mesh for pelvic organ prolapse, cyanoacrylate glue occlusion for varicose veins, MRI-guided laser interstitial thermal therapy for drug-resistant epilepsy and selective internal radiation therapy for unresectable colorectal metastases in the liver) and five Medtech innovation briefings (for Cor-Knot for tying suture knots in valve surgery, artificial intelligence for analyzing CT brain scans and others).

On 17 March 2020, NHS England announced that block contracts would be used to cover the period 1 April – 31 July, as the national tariff is suspended. Contractual arrangements for 2020/21 with NHS trusts/NHS foundation trusts and with non-NHS providers operating under the NHS Standard Contract were published.

OPCS-4 is a statistical classification for clinical coding of hospital interventions and procedures undertaken by the NHS. On 4 November 2019, OPCS 4.9 Classification of Interventions and Procedures was released. The implementation date is 1 April 2020.