Current projects

Evaluation of the implementation of the Innovative Devices Access Pathway (IDAP) pilot

  • Health improvement

What is the context?

Developers of innovative medical technologies can face protracted regulatory processes and other barriers that delay the use of these technologies in the NHS. The Innovative Devices Access Pathway (IDAP) Pilot was introduced in September 2023 to try to accelerate access to medical technologies considered to be innovative and transformative, by providing an integrated and enhanced regulatory and access pathway into the NHS to developers.

The IDAP pilot brings together key agencies, including the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), National Health Service England (NHSE), Health Technology Wales (HTW) and the Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG) to jointly deliver the pathway. The pilot supports eight technologies, which were selected by IDAP partners based on the programme’s selection criteria; the support is non-financial and involves a series of tools which range from supporting the technology developer engage with clinical investigation activities through to meetings with key system stakeholders to discuss NHS adoption and supply chain issues. The tools used are selected through the development of a tailored Target Development Profile (TDP) roadmap.

The stated aims of the pilot are to:

  • test the main elements of the pathway,
  • provide informative learning and feedback to help build the future IDAP,
  • inform the wider development of an end-to-end innovation pathway, as per the Medical Technology Strategy published in February 2023.

  • This project seeks to evaluate whether and how the pilot has met these aims and suggest potential options to support the roll out of the pilot into a formal programme and maximise learning to inform similar initiatives in the future.

  • How are we going to do the research? How are we including PPIE (where relevant)? How will the research address inequalities (where relevant)?

    We plan to interview three sets of stakeholders:

    1. IDAP partner agencies involved in the delivery of the pathway.
    2. Stakeholders in the wider eco-system (e.g. Department for Business & Trade, NHSSC).
    3. Developers of the eight selected medical technologies.

    We will explore with IDAP partners, the developers, and stakeholders in the wider ecosystem whether the existing pathway:

    • is consistent with developers’ understanding of the pathway and whether any steps are missing.
    • reflects IDAP partners’ understanding of the pathway and their specific role in its delivery.
    • is consistent with non-partners’ understanding of the pilot and whether they felt they were suitably involved and how they feel they might be involved in the future


    We will engage with our PPIE advisors throughout the research to ensure that their important perspective is not overlooked.

    We plan to share our findings with key stakeholders at the relevant agencies in the form of reports and presentations. We are also planning to disseminate the findings to the wider scientific community through peer-reviewed journal articles and conference presentations.