Heart Diseases: Health Services

(asked on 18th 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 steps his Department is taking to prepare cardiac units for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.


Answered by
Stephen Hammond Portrait
Stephen Hammond
This question was answered on 30th April 2019

We have now reached agreement with the European Union on an extension until 31 October 2019 at the latest, with the option to leave earlier as soon as a deal has been ratified. Although Parliament has rejected leaving without a deal multiple times, this remains the legal default at the end of the extension period, unless a deal is passed by Parliament.

In light of the extension, Departments will make sensible decisions about the timing and pace at which some of this work is progressing, but we will continue to prepare for all exit scenarios. We remain focused on ensuring our smooth and orderly withdrawal from the EU with a deal as soon as possible.

The Department is considering the impact on our EU exit preparations and we are working closely with our stakeholders to review our position.

While we never give guarantees, we are confident that, if everyone does what they need to do, the supply of medicines and medical products, including for supplies of clinical trials and investigations, will be uninterrupted in the event we leave the EU without a deal.

In terms of EU exit preparations for local National Health Service organisations, on 18 April 2019 Professor Keith Willett, EU Exit Strategic Commander at NHS England and NHS Improvement, wrote to clinical commissioning group and trust Chief Executives to update them on the further extension to Article 50, and the actions that now need to be taken locally to continue to prepare for the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU. Further details are available in Professor Willett’s letter that NHS England and NHS Improvement has published online at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/20130418-KW-EU-exit-letter-final-.pdf

These actions will also apply to cardiac units as they are within trusts.

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