Chris Whitehouse, a political consultant and expert on medical technology policy and regulation at Whitehouse Communications, and advisor to MedTech suppliers, reports on a new initiative from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to develop national guidance for local formularies covering medical devices, and warns of some of the dangers of formulary use.
The Department of Health and Social Care has launched a national survey to inform the development of good practice guidance for local NHS formularies that list medical devices prescribed for use at home or in the community.
This initiative responds to long-standing concerns about variation in how NHS organisations manage medical device formularies, which can affect the availability of appropriate devices to patients in different regions. While NICE provides general guidance on the development of local formularies, there is currently no national support or framework specifically for medical devices listed in Part IX of the Drug Tariff.
The survey is open to a wide range of stakeholders, including Integrated Care Board (ICB) pharmacy leads, NHS clinicians, suppliers, specialist nursing bodies, GP practices, trusts, and charities. Patients and carers are also invited to contribute their perspectives.
The insights gathered will inform the development of national guidance designed to improve consistency in how medical devices are prescribed across the NHS. By addressing variations in local approaches, the guidance aims to support more effective clinical decision-making and to ensure patients receive the most appropriate devices for managing their conditions.
While the introduction of formalised guidance may lead to some changes in local practice, this development, says the DHSC, could bring significant benefits.
For manufacturers and suppliers, this guidance could offer greater stability by setting clearer expectations around which products are likely to be adopted, supporting long-term planning and innovation. For NHS staff, it has the potential to provide a consistent framework to reduce variation and ease administrative burden.
Most importantly, national good practice guidance could help address postcode lottery effects by ensuring fairer access to appropriate devices and strengthen patient-centred prescribing by involving patients directly in the development process, officials claim.
But, the use of local and even national formularies is not without its critics, who argue that they can in practice be used to reduce clinicians’ freedom to prescribe whichever product they judge best meets their patient’s needs. This is particularly the case with products such as urinary catheters where access to the full range of products listed on Part IX must remain available both in theory and in practice, to ensure that the very individual needs and preferences of a patient, rather than price and administrative convenience, are at the heart of the prescribing process.
Stakeholders are invited to complete the survey by midnight on Sunday, 30th November 2025, via the online survey form.
The Author used AI in preparing this article. Comments upon or questions about this article can be addressed to chris.whitehouse@whitehousecomms.com.
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