DHSC are inviting MedTech suppliers to actively participate in the Alpha phase of the Medtech Compass programme.
Your insight is critical to ensuring that Compass is a tool that genuinely supports smarter, faster and more evidence-based NHS procurement decisions. If you would like to participate in research sessions during the Alpha, please contact Jason Nolan (jason.nolan@dhsc.gov.uk).
Why participate in the Compass Alpha?
Compass aims to tackle a challenge shared across the system: the difficulty of comparing Medtech products based on holistic value and clinical outcomes. Procurement can be inconsistent and highly resource-intensive, with unnecessary duplication for both suppliers and NHS decision-makers.
Compass is designed to bring consistency to the system by centralising evaluative Medtech data and enabling meaningful comparison beyond price alone, helping high-value innovation reach patients faster.
More about the Medtech Compass
The Medtech & Innovation Directorate in DHSC is developing the Medtech Compass, a digital product comparison platform that will support NHS procurement teams to make faster, more consistent and evidence-based decisions.
Compass will use a passporting model, centralising evaluative data from a range of trusted sources, once, and reusing it across the system. This will improve data quality and support the streamlining of procurement, aligned with the 10 Year Health Plan and Life Sciences Sector Plan.
Timelines
- Discovery concluded in March 2025, confirming strong user need for a trusted, centralised comparison tool.
- Alpha commenced in November 2025. They will test key assumptions, to develop a Compass prototype, through structured interviews and group workshops with primary users and suppliers.
- Private and public Beta thereafter followed by a live service.
