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 as a result of new customs arrangements to ensure that (a) the sight-preserving eye drops atropine and (b) other medicines sourced inside the EU are able to reach patients and clinical trial participants in the UK.

Our priority is to ensure that patients continue to have access to the medicines and clinical trial supplies they need, including eye medicines such as atropine. We continue to work closely with the pharmaceutical industry, sponsors of clinical trials, the National Health Service, and others in the supply chain to deliver the shared goal of continuity of safe patient care under all circumstances.

The Department wrote to all suppliers of medicines and medical products, including sponsors of clinical trials, coming to the United Kingdom from or via the European Union on 17 November 2020. The letter sets out how we are continuing to work with suppliers and sponsors to deliver our multi-layered approach to mitigate any potential disruption to supply of medicines into the UK, including supplies for clinical trials, now that the UK has left the EU Single Market and Customs Union.

The letter is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-to-medicines-and-medical-products-suppliers-17-november-2020