Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department's plans to ensure the supply of medicines in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal (a) have been or (b) will be subjected to an independent evaluation.

The Department’s plans to ensure the supply of medicines in the event of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union without a deal have been subject to scrutiny by a number of Parliamentary Committees, including the Public Accounts Committee, the Health and Social Care Committee, the EU Exit Committee and the House of Lords EU Home Affairs Sub-Committee. The Department is also working closely with suppliers, their supply chains, health services and devolved administrations to maintain the continuity of medicines supply in a ‘no deal’ EU exit scenario.

We are unable to publish the list of medicines requested. To reassure participating companies, we have committed to treating all information received confidentially, securely and to using it only for the purposes of the Department’s contingency programme. That means not introducing information about a specific company, medicine or supply route into the public domain.

On 23 August 2018, the Department wrote to all pharmaceutical companies that supply prescription-only and pharmacy medicines to the UK that come from, or via, the EU or European Economic Area (EEA), asking them to ensure a minimum of six weeks’ additional supply in the UK, over and above existing business-as-usual buffer stocks, by 29 March 2019. We recognise, however, that certain medicines with short shelf lives, including medical radioisotopes, cannot be reasonably stockpiled. Where these medicines are imported from the EU or EEA, we have asked that suppliers ensure in advance plans to air freight these medicines from the EU in the event of a ‘no deal’ exit.

Additionally, on 7 December 2018, the Department wrote to pharmaceutical companies that supply licensed medicines to the UK from or via the EU/EEA and/or manufacture medicines in the UK, informing them of the updated reasonable worst-case scenario border disruption planning assumptions and asking them about their current transportation routes and their ability to re-route their supply chains if they currently rely on Dover and/or Folkestone.

We have received very good engagement from industry who share our aims of ensuring continuity of medicines supply for patients is maintained and that suppliers are able to cope with any potential delays at the border that may arise in the short term in the event of a ‘no deal’ exit.