Cross-party peers have backed a move to push the NHS beyond upfront product prices and towards value-based procurement, during a House of Lords debate on the Health Bill in which an amendment called for annual government reporting to Parliament on the policy's roll-out.
The amendment, tabled by Labour's Lord Hunt of Kings Heath and supported by crossbench peer Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, would require ministers to report each year on progress towards adopting value-based procurement across the NHS and social care in England. The approach assesses patient outcomes, clinical benefits and the wider costs of care rather than the initial purchase price alone, and is already being introduced following national guidance published in June.
Evidence put before peers
Lord Hunt, a former health minister and long-standing advocate of the policy, said procurement exists to secure value for money for the health service but "can do much more", arguing the aim is to move away from always choosing the lowest price and towards quality that improves patient outcomes.
He pointed to a pilot at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, run with health and hygiene company Essity, in which continence products matched to patients' individual needs led to a 48% reduction in leaks and an 8% fall in product use.
Baroness Finlay, a professor of palliative medicine, praised the work of the Department of Health and Social Care's Medical Technology and Innovation Directorate and called for wider adoption across the NHS and social care. She argued that cheaper equipment can prove a false economy if it leads to complications or further treatment, with the resulting costs often falling on different NHS budgets. She cited specialist cardiac pacemakers as an example of more expensive devices that can help prevent serious infections in vulnerable patients and potentially avoid costly intensive care. Clinicians, she said, know "the cheapest is not necessarily the best", and that knowledge of device outcomes needs to be embedded in tendering.
Support across parties
Former Health Secretary Lord Lansley, a Conservative peer, warned that rigid pricing thresholds could prevent more expensive products from being properly assessed for their wider benefits. Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Lord Scriven described the national guidance as a "genuine step forward" but cautioned that financial pressures could still encourage NHS buyers to favour immediate savings over better long-term outcomes.
Government position
Responding to the debate, health minister Baroness Merron reaffirmed the Government's commitment to value-based procurement and confirmed that NHS Supply Chain had adopted a "comply or explain" approach for future purchasing frameworks. She said the intention was for the approach to become routine practice when NHS teams buy medical devices, consumables and services. The Government has also commissioned independent monitoring of the national guidance, with annual reports over the next three years to assess its impact.
Unresolved questions
The debate also exposed concerns about whether current purchasing practice is consistent with the policy. Lord Hunt questioned NHS Supply Chain's decision to identify 79 additional product categories for potential inclusion in its Core List of standardised supplies, including urinary catheters and colostomy bags. He warned that these are highly personal products rather than standard commodities and criticised the absence of prior consultation with the relevant trade associations. Baroness Merron acknowledged the importance of tailoring products to individual patients but did not directly address the proposed expansion, leaving open how the NHS will balance greater standardisation with clinically led, patient-centred procurement.
Health policy lobbyist Chris Whitehouse, whose agency Whitehouse Communications worked on the amendment with Essity, said there is now clear cross-party support for value-based procurement and a real desire to see it rolled out with momentum across the NHS in England.