FOI – 2023-000337 Supplier of hip and knee products (HTML)

Date received – 08 September 2023 | Date responded – 26 September 2023

Request

In terms of procurement I ask if NHS Scotland has Ossur as a listed supplier. More specifically patients in the early stages of osteoarthritis would benefit from Ossur knee and hip braces. These delay the progress to stage 4 thus taking pressure off the NHS of knee and hip replacements costs and human resources. Please indicate if you have assessed these products and put them on the supply list. This would also lessen prescriptions for painkillers and referrals for musculoskeletal therapy.

Response

I refer to your freedom of information request that we received on 08 September 2023 requesting the following information.

In terms of procurement, I ask if NHS Scotland has Ossur as a listed supplier. More specifically patients in the early stages of osteoarthritis would benefit from Ossur knee and hip braces. These delay the progress to stage 4 thus taking pressure off the NHS of knee and hip replacements costs and human resources. Please indicate if you have assessed these products and put them on the supply list. This would also lessen prescriptions for painkillers and referrals for musculoskeletal therapy.

I can advise you that we have now completed the search of our records and can provide you with the following information:

NHS Scotland health boards can access Ossur Leg Orthopaedic Softgoods via the National Distribution Centre, each individual health board would undertake a clinical assessment for each patient prior to approving use.

I trust you will find the information of assistance and if you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

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Contact

Address

If after a review you are still unhappy, you also have the right to apply to the Scottish Information Commissioner, who can be contacted at Kinburn Castle, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9DS, or via their application form.

National Services Scotland (NSS) is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. You can view all FOI responses within our FOI Publications repository.