Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the supply of medicines to Northern Ireland is not affected by the outbreak of covid-19.

The National Health Service and wider health systems throughout the United Kingdom are extremely well prepared for these types of outbreaks and follow tried and tested procedures of the highest standards to protect staff, patients and the public. The Department has stepped up its efforts to assess risks to the availability of medicines and medical products and put in place contingencies to help ensure uninterrupted supply to the entire UK, including Northern Ireland.

The steps being taken to protect UK supplies in response to the outbreak were set out in the Department’s press statement issued on 11 February 2020. This statement is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-monitor-impact-of-coronavirus-on-uk-medicine-supply

The Department has worked closely at Ministerial and official level with our partners in the devolved administrations since the beginning of the outbreak to formulate an effective response. Alongside this, Professor Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer, is working with his counterparts in the devolved administrations to ensure the response is effective across the whole UK.