Asked by: Kanishka Narayan (Labour - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the supply of Pancreatic Enzyme Replacement Therapy medicines to patients in Wales.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has worked in close partnership with the devolved administrations in the management of this supply issue. The Department is continuing to engage with all suppliers of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) to mitigate the supply issue that is affecting the whole of the United Kingdom. Through this work, we have managed to secure additional volumes of PERT for 2025 for the UK. The Department has also reached out to specialist importers who have sourced unlicensed stock to assist in covering the remaining gap in the market.
In December 2024, the Department issued further management advice to healthcare professionals, which was then discussed with and cascaded to all the devolved administrations. This directs clinicians to consider these unlicensed imports when licensed stock is unavailable, and includes actions for integrated care boards to ensure local mitigation plans are put in place and implemented. The Department, in collaboration with NHS England, has created a webpage to include the latest updates on PERT availability and easily accessible advice on the prescribing and ordering of alternative PERT products.
The Department has frequent conversations with representatives from the impacted patient groups, so that they are informed of the supply situation and the mitigation actions being taken.
The Department will also continue to meet with suppliers, patient groups, and other relevant stakeholders across the supply chain to provide updates on the supply position and the actions being taken to address them.
Asked by: Kanishka Narayan (Labour - Vale of Glamorgan)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support the adoption of health technology innovation in the NHS.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is looking to encourage greater innovation in the health sector to help support the three big shifts in healthcare, from hospitals to communities, from analogue to digital, and from treatment to prevention, which are set out as part of the Government’s Health Mission.
The upcoming Life Sciences Sector Plan, as part of the United Kingdom’s industrial strategy, and the 10-Year Health Plan present significant opportunities to strengthen the UK’s life sciences sector and ensure that innovation is embedded across the healthcare system. This will build on the Department’s MedTech Strategy, published in February 2023, and the subsequent One Year On Report in April 2024, outlining our priorities for improving the adoption and spread of safe, effective, and innovative medical technologies across the National Health Service.
The 15 Health Innovation Networks across England are our regional support structure for the development and adoption of health innovation. These networks are health innovation adoption experts, with each delivering services for their local population, as well as working as a national network. They transform lives through innovation by supporting health and social care teams to find, test, and implement new solutions at scale to tackle one of the NHS’ greatest challenges, driving economic growth.