NHS: Drugs
(asked on 24th June 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 assessment he has made of the availablity of (a) critical and (b) short shelf-life medicines in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.
The Government fully understands that maintaining access to all medicines and medical products, including critical medicines and short shelf-life products, is vitally important to millions of people in this country. Ensuring unhindered supply of these products remains the Government’s top priority.
As in preparation for 29 March and 12 April, our ‘no deal’ EU Exit contingency plans for 31 October will cover the NHS, social care and the independent sector and covers all medicines, medical devices and clinical consumables, supplies for clinical trials, vaccines and countermeasures, and organs and tissues for transplants.
The Department has continued to work closely with the Devolved Administrations, industry trade bodies and suppliers, the NHS and other key stakeholders. Prior to 29 March, the Department analysed the supply chains of 12,300 medicines, close to half a million product lines of medical devices and clinical consumables, vaccines used in national and local programmes, and essential non-clinical goods on which the health and care system relies. These analyses and assessments have been updated where necessary and will continue to be refined while a ‘no deal’ EU Exit remains a possibility. This work has informed our plans.
We are asking suppliers to analyse their supply chains and to make alternative plans if they anticipate disruption, including rerouting to alternative ports or using airfreight where necessary. Our contingency measures aim to support industry-led measures and, where required, act as a ‘last resort’ to be used only when a supplier’s alternative arrangements encounter difficulties, to ensure uninterrupted supply.
In the case of medicines that cannot be stockpiled because, for example, they have short shelf-lives, such as medical radioisotopes, we are working closely with suppliers to make alternative arrangements using airfreight.
Further details can be found at the following link:
While we never give guarantees, we are confident that, if everyone – including suppliers, freight companies, international partners and the health and care system – does what they need to do, the supply of medicines and medical products should be uninterrupted in the event of a no-deal EU Exit.