HC Deb 24 January 1983 vol 35 c286W
Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will take steps to ensure that the Health Service Supply Council encourages hospital authorities to purchase British equipment and that expert evaluation of all equipment is carried out before purchase to ensure that value for money is obtained.

Mr. Geoffrey Finsberg

The Health Service supply council has left health authorites in no doubt about the importance of the Government's policy of using the purchasing power of public sector bodies to improve the competitiveness of their suppliers. The council wrote to all Administrators of Regional Health Authorities on the subject in 1981 and again in 1982. The correspondence contained specific guidance for NHS staff on how companies supplying the NHS could be helped and on the "value for money" criteria which health authorities should use in making purchasing decisions.

Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what testing and quality control is done to ensure that the most effective British equipment is purchased by and recommended to hospital authorities.

Mr. Geoffrey Finsberg

The Department spends about £2 million a year on the assessment of medical equipment within NHS hospitals and Reports are made available to the NHS through the DHSS publication "Health Equipment Information". Additionally the BSI test house at Hemel Hempstead receives substantial support in testing medical electrical equipment. With the backing of the NHS supply council, a registration scheme was launched last year for manufacturers of sterile medical devices and surgical products. A condition of registration is that quality control meets DHSS requirements and manufacturers are subject to inspection. Plans are advanced to extend the scheme to other product areas.

In all these activities, the views of British equipment manufacturers are sought and efforts made to meet their needs consistent with our international obligations British Standards form the basis for tests wherever a suitable Standard exists and the principles outlined in the recent White Paper "Standards, Quality and International Competitiveness" are being actively pursued.