Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure a regular supply of Pancreatic Enzyme Replacement Therapy medication in the North East London NHS Foundation Trust area.

The Department monitors and manages medicine supply issues at a national level so that stocks remain available to meet regional and local demand. Information on stock levels within individual National Health Service trusts is not held centrally.

The Department is continuing to engage with all suppliers of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) to mitigate the supply issue that is affecting the whole of the United Kingdom. Through this, we have managed to secure additional volumes of PERT for 2025 for the UK. We are continuing to work with all suppliers to understand what more can be done to add further resilience to the market. The Department has also reached out to specialist importers who have sourced unlicensed stock to assist in covering the remaining gap in the market.

In the longer term, the Department has had interest from non-UK suppliers wishing to bring their products to the UK and, along with colleagues in the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, we are working with these potential suppliers, and if authorised, these products could further diversify and strengthen the market.

In December 2024, the Department issued further management advice to healthcare professionals. This directs clinicians to consider the unlicensed imports when licensed stock is unavailable and includes actions for integrated care boards to ensure local mitigation plans are put in place and implemented. The Department continues to collaborate closely with NHS England colleagues, clinicians, patient groups, and charities to ensure that these mitigation plans are supporting patients, and routinely updates advice and issues further guidance when necessary. There are no current plans to provide additional funding for unlicensed imports.

The Department will continue to meet with suppliers, clinicians, representatives from the impacted patient advocacy groups, and charities so that they are informed on the supply situation and the mitigation actions being taken.