The Department of Health and Social Care has announced that a review is being launched into the impact of potential bias in the design and use of medical devices.

There are concerns that the way medical devices and technologies are designed and used could mean a patient’s diagnosis and treatment is affected by their gender or ethnic background, exacerbating existing inequalities in healthcare.

While current UK regulations set out clear expectations, they do not currently include provisions to ensure that medical devices are equally effective regardless of demographic factors, such as ethnicity.

The independent review will look at devices such as oximeters – used to measure oxygen levels – to identify potential discrepancies in how they work for different ethnic groups. As part of this, the review will consider whether existing regulations mean there is a systemic bias inherent in medical devices. All devices will be covered by the review.

Details of who will be leading the review will be set out in due course. However, the government has said that it is hoped that initial findings can be completed and presented by the end of January 2022.