Intended for healthcare professionals

Rapid response to:

Feature Data Briefing

Does poor health justify NHS reform?

BMJ 2011; 342 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d566 (Published 28 January 2011) Cite this as: BMJ 2011;342:d566

Rapid Response:

UK must increase uptake of medical technology to close gap with Europe

If Andrew Lansley is serious about improving mortality rates and
bringing them into line with the rest of Europe, then more must be done to
incentivise investment in high-value interventions using medical devices
such as implantable cardioverter defribrillators (ICDs).

Although - as Mr Appleby states - the UK's cancer survival rates and
myocardial infarction death rates might be improving, increased use of
tried and tested medical devices such as ICDs could save many more lives
with immediate effect. The UK has one of the lowest implant rates,
ranking 14th out of 15 countries in the European league table. We need to
increase adoption of life saving and life enhancing technologies and
reduce unnecessary acute costs through reduced bed days, unplanned
admissions and surgery time.

As a first step the Government should abandon its plans to introduce
price competition in the payment system - the quality of patient outcomes
must remain at the heart of healthcare decision making and purchasing
should be incentivised accordingly.

Barbara Harpham, Chairman of the Medical Technology Group

www.mtg.org.uk

Competing interests: The MTG is a coalition of patient groups, research charities and medical device manufacturers working together to improve patient access to cost effective medical technologies for everyone who needs them. Uptake of many effective medical devices in the NHS is not as good as it should be. Medical technologies can improve clinical outcomes and experiences of patients and support the wellbeing and personal development of individuals. They can help to achieve savings for the NHS and other areas of public spending in a tight budgetary climate, by improving rehabilitation and independence, supporting care closer to home, and reducing planned and emergency hospital admissions.The MTG has over 40 members including Heart Research UK, The Patients Association, Johnson & Johnson, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Boston Scientific. To find out more please contact the MTG secretariat: mail@mtg.org.uk

03 February 2011
Barbara Harpham
Chairman
Medical Technnology Group (Secretariat c/o Weber Shandwick)