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 improve the (a) medium-term and (b) long-term sustainability of the supply of (i) Molybdenum-99 generators, (ii) Iodine-131medical grade radioisotopes and (iii) other medical grade radioisotopes.

We are working closely with officials in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero who are leading a £6 million funded Medical Radionuclide Innovation Programme. This is focused on safeguarding the provision and development of radiopharmaceuticals for United Kingdom patients in the medium and long-term and encouraging innovation in technologies and techniques that could support access to radioisotopes in order to increase the UK’s resilience in times of global supply constraints or shortages. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has commissioned a landscape assessment to inform Government action in this area.

We routinely monitor short-term threats to the supply of medical grade radioisotopes, including through regular contact with UK suppliers, and has well-established processes which aim to prevent supply issues occurring in the first instance, and to manage or mitigate them when they occur. There are currently no active UK supply issues with medical radioisotopes.