Bipolar Disorder: Drugs

(asked on 4th April 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the NHS on the availability of drugs to treat bi-polar disorders in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.


Answered by
Stephen Hammond Portrait
Stephen Hammond
This question was answered on 9th April 2019

Leaving the European Union with a ‘deal’ remains the Government’s top priority and would give businesses stability and certainty to prepare for our new relationship with the EU after EU exit. The Department has published guidance to industry and the health and care system to allow them to make informed plans and preparations. This is available on GOV.UK.

On 26 March, we wrote to all other organisations in the health and care system to ask them to continue to prepare for leaving the EU without a ‘deal’.

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care discusses ‘no deal’ contingency plans, including those for the availability of medicines, with a number of stakeholders, including the National Health Service and other Government Departments.

The Department has been working closely with trade bodies, product suppliers, the NHS in England, and the devolved administrations and the Crown Dependencies, to ensure the continuation of the supply of medicines to the whole of the United Kingdom in the event of a ‘no deal’ EU exit. This includes the NHS, social care and the independent sector, and covers licensed medicines (prescription only, pharmacy and general sales list medicines) and unlicensed medicines (specials, investigational medicinal products and UK imports).

We understand that medicines to treat conditions such as epilepsy, bi-polar disorder and neuropathic pain are vitally important to many people in this country. Our contingency plans include sensible mitigations for medicines that come to the UK from or via the EU/European Economic Area, such as precautionary stockpiling by suppliers, to ensure that the supply of essential medicines to patients is not disrupted.

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