The NHS is being urged to look beyond the price of medical products and consider whether spending more upfront could improve patient care and save money in the long run, after the approach won cross-party backing in the House of Lords.
The calls came during Wednesday’s debate on the Health Bill, where peers considered an amendment tabled by Labour’s Lord Hunt of Kings Heath and supported by crossbench peer Baroness Finlay of Llandaff. The amendment would require ministers to report annually to Parliament on progress towards adopting value-based procurement across the NHS and social care in England.
The approach considers patient outcomes, clinical benefits, and the wider costs of care rather than simply the initial purchase price. It is already being introduced across the health service following the publication of national guidance in June.
Lord Hunt, a former health minister and longstanding advocate of the policy, welcomed the progress made:
“Procurement is there to ensure value for money for the health service, but it can do much more […] The point is getting away from always going for the lowest price and going for quality to improve patient outcomes.”
He pointed to a pilot at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, conducted with healthcare company Essity, where providing patients with continence products suited to their individual needs led to a 48% reduction in leaks and an 8% fall in product use.
Baroness Finlay echoed his support, praising the work of the Department of Health and Social Care’s Medical Technology and Innovation Directorate and calling for the approach to be adopted more widely across the NHS and social care.
She argued that buying cheaper equipment could prove a false economy if it led to complications or further treatment, with the resulting costs often falling on different NHS budgets. She cited specialist cardiac pacemakers as an example of how more expensive devices could help prevent serious infections in vulnerable patients, potentially avoiding costly intensive care treatment.
Baroness Finlay said:
“It is the clinicians who know that the cheapest is not necessarily the best […] The clinicians are the ones who know what the outcomes are for particular devices, so that needs to be embedded in the tendering process.”
The proposals also attracted support from Conservative peer Lord Lansley, who warned that rigid pricing thresholds could prevent more expensive products from being properly assessed for their wider benefits. Liberal Democrat 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.
Responding to the debate, health minister Baroness Merron reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to value-based procurement, confirming that NHS Supply Chain had adopted a “comply or explain” approach for future purchasing frameworks.
She said the intention was for value-based procurement to become routine practice when NHS teams purchased 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.
Despite the broad support, the debate also exposed concerns about whether existing NHS purchasing practices were consistent with the policy.
Lord Hunt questioned NHS Supply Chain’s recent 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 were highly personal products rather than standard commodities and criticised the lack of prior consultation with relevant trade associations.
Merron acknowledged the importance of products being tailored to individual patients but did not directly address the proposed expansion of the Core List, leaving questions over how the NHS would balance greater standardisation with its commitment to clinically led, patient-centred procurement.
Health policy lobbyist, Chris Whitehouse, whose agency Whitehouse Communications, worked on the amendment with global health and hygiene company Essity, said:
“It's clear that there's great support now for value-based procurement across political parties, and a real desire to see it rolled-out with momentum across the NHS in England.”
