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 help (a) increase the supply and (b) ensure (i) consistent and (ii) equitable supply of hormone replacement therapy products in each region.

The Department monitors and manages medicine supply at a national level so that stocks remain available to meet regional and local demand.

There are over 70 hormone replacement therapy (HRT) products, and the vast majority are in good supply. Previously there have been issues with the supply of a limited number of these products, primarily driven by very sharp increases in demand.

Following the Department’s intensive engagement with industry, the supply position has improved considerably. As part of this we have previously met with suppliers on a very regular basis and have held nine HRT supply roundtables since April 2022, with the most recent in September 2024, with suppliers, wholesalers, and community pharmacists, to provide updates on the supply position and actions being taken to address them, to share data, and to discuss relevant policy developments and potential impacts.

We work closely with suppliers and other stakeholders such as the National Health Service and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, to maintain overall HRT supply to patients across the United Kingdom during the shortages, including working to expedite resupply dates of the disrupted HRT products, to resolve issues as soon as possible and to help fill supply gaps and prevent future shortages.

We also added some HRT medicines to the list of products that cannot be exported from, or hoarded in, the UK, to protect supply for UK patients. We share regular communications about shortages and discontinuations with the NHS and have issued a number of communications about HRT supply issues to date.