Data from health registries already provides vital insight to clinicians and medical researchers. Now the time has come to share registry data more widely with the medical technology (MedTech) industry, to raise the standards of patient care, says Richard Armstrong.
The country took a big step forward in improving patient safety, earlier this year. In June 2025, new regulations on monitoring the performance of medical devices came into force. The regulations, from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA),1 strengthen the requirements for manufacturers to monitor the safety and performance of devices after they are placed on the market.
The strengthening of post-market surveillance regulations aims to improve patient safety by ensuring manufacturers actively track their products, collect data on their performance, report incidents, and take faster action when issues arise.
With tougher MHRA regulations, it should be easier to flag up problems with medical devices2 early so patients who use a health monitoring device, or who have had a medical device implanted during surgery, can be assured that these devices are subject to ongoing surveillance. The regulations could also lead to improvements in the design of devices based on patient outcomes data. But for this to happen, manufacturers need accurate data on how their products are performing. Right now, the problem is that few manufacturers have information on their products once they leave the warehouse, unless something serious goes wrong — and by that time it's too late.
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