Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to secure supplies of medicines for (a) diabetes, (b) cancer and (c) mental health treatments.

The Department has well-established tools and processes to manage supply issues whenever they arise, helping to prevent shortages and mitigate risks to patients. We work with industry, NHS England, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, devolved administrations and other stakeholders to help ensure patients continue to have access to the treatments they need.

The Department has been working with industry to help boost supplies of medicines for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, and the position is improving as a result. Some supply issues remain, but we are continuing to work hard to resolve these as quickly as possible. We have issued guidance to all healthcare professionals on how to manage patients requiring these medicines whilst supply is disrupted. Our guidance is clear that medicines licensed for the treatment of type 2 diabetes should only be used for this purpose.

Regarding cancer medicines, we are aware of an issue with the supply of letrozole tablets from one supplier. We have been working with alternative suppliers, who have confirmed that they have the stock available to meet demand. A supplier of tamoxifen tablets is also experiencing supply issues, but again we have worked with alternative suppliers to help ensure they can support the market at this time.

Regarding medicines for mental health treatments, the Department has been working with manufacturers of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder medicines and a number of issues have now been resolved. Work continues to resolve the remaining supply issues by April 2024. We have issued a National Patient Safety Alert and worked with clinicians to develop helpful guidance on how to manage patients during this time.