Cancer: Health Services
(asked on 24th September 2019) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on access to cancer treatment of the UK leaving the EU without an agreement.
The Department is doing everything appropriate to prepare for the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union. Our plans should ensure the supply of medicines and medical products when we leave the EU on 31 October.
The Department, in consultation with the devolved administrations, has been working with trade bodies, product suppliers, and the health and care system in England to make detailed plans that should ensure continuation of the supply of medical products to the whole of the UK and its Crown Dependencies.
On 26 June, we wrote to suppliers of medicines to the UK from or via the EU or European Economic Area setting out our continuing multi-layered approach to support continuity of supply of medicines and medical products from 31 October.
Further details can be found at the following link:
As with our plans leading up to 29 March, for those medicines that cannot be stockpiled because, for example, they have short shelf-lives, such as medical radioisotopes for use in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, we have asked suppliers to make alternative arrangements, using air freight, which some suppliers are already doing now. We have offered support to companies to arrange this.