Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to guarantee a continuous supply of insulin for those with type 1 diabetes in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

The Department is doing everything appropriate to prepare for leaving the European Union. We want to reassure patients that our plans should ensure the uninterrupted supply of medicines and medical products, including insulin, once we have left the EU.

The Department, as part of our EU exit preparations, is implementing a multi-layered approach to mitigate potential disruption to supply, which consists of stockpiling where possible, securing freight capacity, changing or clarifying regulatory requirements, procuring additional warehousing, working closely with industry to improve trader readiness and putting in place the National Supply Disruption Response to manage potential shortages.

As an example of the preparations being taken by industry to prepare for EU exit, all three suppliers of insulin have publicly stated that they have significantly increased their United Kingdom stockpiles, and have met the Government’s request that they hold at least six weeks’ worth of extra stock in addition to their usual operational stocks.