Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with the suppliers of (a) diabetes technology, (b) blood glucose testing strips, and (c) insulin on (i) contingency planning and (ii) stockpiling for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Diabetes technology, blood glucose testing strips and insulin are vitally important to many people in this country. The Department’s European Union exit contingency plans, aim to ensure that the supply of insulin, other essential diabetes medicines and related medical products is not disrupted in any EU exit scenario.

Patients can be confident in the Department’s no deal contingency plans which include sensible mitigations for all medicines and medical products that come to the UK from or via the EU / European Economic Area, such as precautionary stockpiling of many of those products by suppliers.

The Department has received very good engagement from industry, including suppliers of insulin and related products, who share our aims of ensuring that continuity of medicines, medical devices and clinical consumable supplies 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’ EU exit. The Department is unable to provide further detail of that engagement because, to reassure participating companies, we are committed to treating all information received confidentially, securely and to using it only for the purposes of the Department’s contingency programmes.