May 19, 2020

The Summary of Safety and Clinical Performance (SSCP) is a Required Part of Medical Device Regulation (MDR) 2017/745: Is Your Organization Ready?

Blast off for succession

Author: Suzanne Broussard

The Summary of Safety and Clinical Performance (SSCP) plays an important part of the very strong post-market follow-up required in MDR 2017/745 for implantable and class III medical devices. The SSCP is intended to provide healthcare workers and relevant patients access to current clinical data and other information about the safety and clinical performance of the medical device. 

SSCP is 1 of 2 yearly reports required of manufacturers to remain complaint under MDR to market medical devices in the European Union. The 2 reports are the Product Safety Update Report (PSUR) and the Summary of Safety and Clinical Performance (SSCP). The SSCP is not the same as the regular CER update. The SSCP needs to be updated when the PMCF and PSUR are updated as part of the ongoing lifecycle of these regulatory documents. 

The specific requirements of the SSCP can be found in Article 32 of MDR 2017/745. In addition, the European Union released MDCG 2019-9: Summary of safety and clinical performance, A guide for manufactures and notified bodies to provide guidance on the presentation of content in the validation of the SSCP.  

The guidance document outlines the minimum content required, and the manufacturer is encouraged to include additional information to enhance the readers understanding of the device’s safety and performance. Of course, the additional information cannot include promotional material and should not interfere with readability. Manufacturers should also keep in mind that the SSCP must be validated by notified bodies (NB); the guideline also provides information for NBs that the manufacturer can use to ensure that the SSPC includes all the relevant information. 

Another point to consider is that the target audience is healthcare workers as well as relevant patients. The European Commission considers relevant patients the target audience in special circumstances where the patient is directly engaged in the use of the device, such as implantable devices for which patients will be given an implant card and class III devices that are intended to be used directly by the patient.  

However, once the European Database on Medical Devices (Eudamed) database goes live May 26, 2022the SSCP can be accessed by anyone and everyone.  

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