Chris Whitehouse, a political consultant and expert on medical technology policy and regulation at Whitehouse Communications, and advisor to MedTech suppliers highlights the roll-out of Value Based Procurement pilot studies across the NHS in England.
The NHS has launched pilots of a value based procurement approach for medical technology that will prioritise long‑term patient outcomes, safety, and whole‑pathway value over lowest upfront price.
Value based procurement [VBP] shifts purchasing decisions from price‑first to outcomes‑first. The approach asks suppliers to demonstrate how devices, diagnostics, or digital tools improve patient outcomes, reduce complications and readmissions, free clinician time, and lower total costs across a patient pathway. The guidance also requires assessment of sustainability, continuity of supply, and warranty or lifecycle costs, creating incentives for innovation that delivers measurable benefits for patients and the health service.
The NHS spends around 10 billion GBP a year on medical technology and has historically favoured lower initial cost when buying equipment. That practice can block adoption of innovations that cost more upfront but which save money and improve outcomes over time. The new procurement approach forms part of the government’s Plan for Change, aimed at boosting NHS productivity and targeting waiting lists by investing in technologies that deliver sustained improvements in care and capacity.
Thirteen NHS trusts will take part in the initial pilots of the value based procurement guidance, with broader rollout across the NHS expected by early 2026. The pilots will cover procurement frameworks managed by NHS Supply Chain and local partnerships such as the NHS London Procurement Partnership, and will include areas like cardiology and vascular devices as well as the application of artificial intelligence in clinical settings. NHS Supply Chain’s Cardiology and Vascular Framework alone is worth about £1 billion, making it a major testbed for the approach.
Pilot work at Barts Health NHS Trust tested an innovative mesh used in cardiology procedures for patients at high risk of infection. Although the product was initially resisted because of higher purchase cost and uncertainty about which patients would benefit, Barts found the mesh substantially reduced infection rates, cut readmissions, and delivered estimated savings of more than £1,100 per patient per year — around £103,000 saved annually for the trust.
University Hospitals of Leicester increased use of an implanted remote‑monitoring function for cardiac devices; despite a per‑patient device cost of roughly £500–£600, the pilot reported a 43% reduction in hospitalisations and lower follow‑up burden, freeing clinicians to treat more patients.
Recently-appointed Health Minister, Zubir Ahmed, framed the move as “invest to save,” emphasising long‑term patient outcomes and the importance of abandoning a “sticking plaster” spending mentality. NHS England leaders say value based procurement has already transformed medicines purchasing and can now be applied to equipment used daily in care, aligning supplier incentives with outcomes and sustainability. NHS Supply Chain and the NHS London Procurement Partnership have committed to embedding the approach across contracts and frameworks, and to learning from the three frameworks selected to go live first as part of the pilot.
The procurement shift intends to reduce waiting lists by supporting faster, safer diagnostics and treatments, shorter hospital stays, and more same‑day discharges. By prioritising technologies that reduce complications and clinician follow‑up time, trusts can increase throughput without proportional increases in staff or beds. The guidance also aims to make the NHS a more straightforward and attractive market for MedTech innovators by providing consistent expectations and pathways to NHS adoption, reducing barriers that historically pushed suppliers away from the health service.
Successful adoption requires robust metrics for outcomes and total cost of care, standardised procurement practice across trusts, and transparency in supplier claims. Trusts will need data capability to measure pathway effects and collaboration across clinical, procurement, and finance teams. Early success will be evident in sustained reductions in infection and readmission rates in piloted areas, measurable per‑patient savings, shorter patient pathways, and clearer routes for uptake of clinically proven innovations across multiple trusts.
The NHS’s value based procurement pilots mark a deliberate policy pivot from buying on price to buying on value, with the explicit aim of improving patient outcomes, boosting productivity, and lowering long‑term costs. Thirteen trusts will test the guidance ahead of national rollout, focusing initially on high‑impact areas such as cardiology and AI‑enabled clinical tools.
MedTech suppliers must engage early with the principles of the methodology and give urgent consideration to the production of data, including from real world case studies, so that they have the evidence to back-up assertions that their products can deliver improved patient outcomes, and whole system savings. Without such evidence, they will be on the back foot in future MedTech procurements.
The VBP methodology is intended to apply to both primary and secondary care, and also envisages a risk-sharing approach so that suppliers can demonstrate their tech in action to procurers.
The Author used AI in preparing this article, comments upon, or questions about which can be addressed to chris.whitehouse@whitehousecomms.com.
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