The UK Government is seeking evidence and insights into potential medical device inequality and solutions to it across the their life cycles.

An independent review on equity in medical devices, commissioned by the government and led by Professor Dame Margaret Whitehead, seeks to tackle disparities in healthcare.

Consultation looks to gather evidence on medical device inequality, and whether there are biases against patients of different ethnicities, genders and other socio-demographic groups, and possible solutions.

The eight-week call for evidence hopes to hear from those who work closely with medical devices such as oxygen measuring devices and infrared scanners, as well as tech such as databases and instructions for devices.

This applies across the entire life cycle – from evaluation to marketing and implementation – to identify potential biases and solutions at each stage.

UK Health Minister Gillian Keegan said: “I am committed to ensuring all patients receive high-quality, innovative healthcare without discrimination.

“The independent review is part of our vital work to tackle healthcare inequalities, and I invite the industry to share their expertise in the call for evidence so we can ensure medical devices are free of any form of bias.”

Academics, researchers, health professionals, engineers, and device developers, as well as patients and general public, are invited to contribute.

Despite current UK regulations setting out expectations on medical devices and technologies, they do not currently include provisions to ensure that medical devices are working equally well for different groups.

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The independent review will cover different types of medical devices, including those enabled by artificial intelligence (AI) used in diagnosing illness and determining therapy pathways, as well as risk-scoring systems using genomics to make decisions about personalised medicine.

Professor Dame Margaret Whitehead, chair of the independent review, said: “We aim to establish where and how potential ethnic and other unfair biases may arise in the design and use of medical devices, and what can be done to make improvements.

“We especially encourage patients and members of the public, as well as health, technology and industry experts and researchers to share their views and any evidence concerning medical devices in order to help us tackle inequalities in healthcare.”

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