Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will re-establish the Hormone Replacement Therapy Taskforce.

The hormone replacement therapy (HRT) Supply Taskforce was temporarily established from April to August 2022 to explore what could be done to address HRT supply issues in the short and long-term. The Department has no plans to re-establish the Taskforce, however we are taking forward its recommendations. One recommendation was to continue the dialogue with industry and we are doing that through regular meetings with individual suppliers as well as holding quarterly roundtables with manufacturers, wholesalers and community pharmacist representatives to discuss policy developments, identify and help address issues and drive progress towards boosting production, where necessary.

The Taskforce also recommended continuing to use Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs), as appropriate, to help manage shortages pending increased supply. We have issued 22 SSPs for HRT products since April 2022, to limit dispensing to two or three months’ supply and to allow the dispensing of suitable alternatives. Only two SSPs remain in place for HRT medicines as the supply issues with most products have now been resolved.