The technology identified for this assessment is single-use and sterile intermittent urethral catheters for bladder drainage. Intermittent catheters are used for catheterisation for medical bladder emptying, particularly for long-term (more than 28 days) bladder management. Intermittent catheterisation is usually done several times a day.
The NHS Supply Chain bladder and bowel framework describes an intermittent catheter as 'a smooth, flexible tube with holes, used for short term drainage of urine from the bladder and the catheter has no balloon'. Intermittent catheters can be made of different materials, are available in different sizes, and have different coatings and tips. The basic requirements of single-use and sterile catheters are detailed in the scope.
This feature-based assessment included 838 intermittent catheters, across 86 catheter product lines (aggregated by catheter size, male or female and tip type) from 17 manufacturers. Based on the NHS Drug Tariff (part IXA), the price of each catheter ranged from £0.40 to £3.28 (as of November 2024). This indicated that the maximum price difference could be £2.88 per catheter.
To determine whether pricing variation is justified, this assessment considered the following 8 additional features (detailed in the scope):
integrated drainage bag
integrated handle or markings
insertion sleeve or grip
tip protector or introducer
microhole zone technology
enhanced lubrication or coating (referred to here as 'enhanced coating')
specially designed catheter case
specially designed packaging.