Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of recent currency exchange rate changes on the import costs of (a) medicines and (b) equipment for the NHS.

Currency rates constantly fluctuate, and this is one of many commercial risks we would expect suppliers to manage when bidding to join a National Health Service framework. The Department is working with the NHS Business Services Authority to make sure suppliers keep to the prices set out in contracts for the full length of those contracts in order to help mitigate the impact of fluctuation.

The price of branded medicines is controlled through the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme and statutory medicines pricing scheme, and so we do not anticipate any increase in prices as a result of currency fluctuations. For generic medicines not supplied through an NHS framework, we expect competitive forces in the market to continue to ensure prices are kept low.