Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2019 to Question 215257, on NHS: drugs, what information his Department holds on the level of medicine shortages in the last 12 months.

Medicines shortages are a routine issue that the Department constantly manages. The Department works closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England and others operating in the supply chain to ensure that the risks to patients are minimised when they do arise.

The Department receives regular reports from the pharmaceutical industry about impending medicine supply issues that may affect United Kingdom patients. From January 2019, it became a mandatory requirement that the pharmaceutical industry must report this information to us in a timely manner. However, not all the issues of which the Department are notified will result in a medicine shortage as the supply team will work behind the scenes using a host of tools to help mitigate and prevent an issue from impacting patients.