Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on contingency planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

This Government has been clear that we do not want or expect a ‘no deal’ scenario. However, it is the duty of a responsible Government to continue to prepare for a range of potential outcomes, including the event of ‘no deal’. The Department has undertaken extensive work to prepare for a ‘no deal’ scenario, including contingency planning, and we continue to take the necessary steps to ensure the country continues to operate smoothly from the day we leave.

The Department is working with its partners across Government, arm’s length bodies and industry, to ensure that all relevant parties are prepared for exiting the European Union. The quality and safety of patient care is paramount in our preparedness plans.

The Government is working to mitigate the impact of any potential delays at borders if there is ‘no deal’. Our planning aims to ensure that from the day the United Kingdom leaves the EU, we will have the necessary resources in place to maintain uninterrupted supplies of medicines and medical products.

Over the course of August, September and October 2018, the Government published a series of technical notices, eight of which are specific to the health and care sector. Since then, we have published further guidance on preparing for a ‘no deal’ scenario.

In preparation for the possibility of a ‘no deal’ exit, the Department, with the support of NHS England and Improvement and Public Health England, has set up a national Operational Response Centre (ORC), which is structured to be able to respond to any impacts on health and social care. This will lead on responding to disruptions to delivery and co-ordinate reporting across the health and care system; the Department has a wide pool of trained staff available to support this if needed. The ORC will work with the devolved administrations to respond to United Kingdom-wide incidents where appropriate.