To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.

View sample alert

Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Non-Departmental Publication (News and Communications)
Committee on Standards in Public Life

Mar. 06 2024

Source Page: AI and Public Standards: 2023 regulators survey and responses
Document: Responses from regulators on how they are adapting to the challenges posed by AI (PDF)

Found: AI and Public Standards: 2023 regulators survey and responses

Written Question
Antibiotics
Wednesday 6th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Campbell-Savours (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for reviewing the expiry dates of antibiotics, including in respect of savings for public expenditure.

Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the Government agency responsible for ensuring that medicines and medical devices work and are acceptably safe, has not made an assessment on the case for reviewing the expiry dates of antibiotics.

Medicine expiry dates, including for antibiotics, are necessary to ensure that the safety and effectiveness of a medicine is maintained over its long-term shelf life. The active ingredient in many medicines can degrade over time resulting in a loss of potency or the formation of impurities in the product. Physical changes to a medicine such as discolouration, may also occur upon prolonged storage. Medicine expiry dates are supported by stability studies completed by the pharmaceutical company, which demonstrate that a medicine remains safe and effective throughout its shelf life. Any change to the expiry date of a medicine requires an independent review of the stability data by the MHRA.

Companies can and often do extend the shelf life of their medicines once the product is on the market, and as additional stability data become available. It is not possible, however, to extend the expiry date of all medicines unilaterally in the absence of supporting stability data.

Scottish Parliament Written Question
S6W-25634
Tuesday 5th March 2024

Asked by: Mundell, Oliver (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - Dumfriesshire)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of it approaching four years since the report of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review, First Do No Harm, was published, and that three years have nearly passed since the Scottish Government published its plan for delivering on its commitment to implement, in full, the recommendations of the review, whether it will (a) provide an update on its delivery plan and (b) confirm when it expects to implement the remaining recommendations of the review to improve the lives of those impacted by sodium valproate, Primados and mesh implants.

Answered by Minto, Jenni - Minister for Public Health and Women's Health

There has been progress in implementing the Scottish Government’s delivery plan:

  • the Patient Safety Commissioner for Scotland Act 2023 established a Parliamentary Commissioner on patient safety
  • the Glasgow Complex Mesh Surgical Service offers mesh removal surgery, and women can also choose an NHS England surgeon or an independent provider
  • 25 women have had the costs of previously arranged private mesh removal surgery reimbursed
  • the NHS Scotland Scan for Safety Programme for implantable medical devices is planned to roll out across territorial boards by the end of March 2026
  • on valproate, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency introduced regulatory measures for the prescribing of valproate and we are working closely with the agency to support their implementation

The Scottish Government considers, further to the undertaking offered in 2021, that it is taking appropriate action to pursue the outcomes sought by all of the recommendations of the 2020 report insofar as they relate to devolved matters.

Departmental Publication (Policy and Engagement)
Department of Health and Social Care

Feb. 29 2024

Source Page: Medicines and Medical Devices Act report 2024
Document: Report on regulations made under sections 2(1), 10(1), 15(1) and 19(1) of the Medicines and Medical Devices Act 2021 (web accessible) (PDF)

Found: Medicines and Medical Devices Act report 2024

Select Committee
Second Report - Assisted Dying/Assisted Suicide

Report Feb. 29 2024

Committee: Health and Social Care Committee (Department: Department of Health and Social Care)

Found: Before her death, the patient was visited by an independent psychiatrist and an independent physician

Select Committee
Berkshire and Surrey Pathology Service, and University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

Oral Evidence Feb. 28 2024

Inquiry: Emerging diseases and learnings from covid-19
Inquiry Status: Closed
Committee: Science, Innovation and Technology Committee

Found: Berkshire and Surrey Pathology Service, and University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust Oral Evidence

Departmental Publication (Statistics)
Department for Science, Innovation & Technology

Feb. 28 2024

Source Page: Regulatory Horizons Council: Regulating Quantum Technology Applications
Document: RHC report on the regulation of quantum technology applications (PDF)

Found: safety and mitigating risks .

Scottish Parliament Select Committee
Letter from Minister for Public Health and Women's Health to HCSC Convener, 28 February 2024
 Hughes report about redress options to Valproate and Pelvic Mesh

Correspondence Feb. 28 2024

Committee: Health, Social Care and Sport Committee

Found: Hughes report about redress options to Valproate and Pelvic Mesh Letter from Minister for Public Health

Departmental Publication (Transparency)
HM Treasury

Feb. 27 2024

Source Page: Supplementary Estimates 2023-24
Document: Supplementary Estimates 2023-24 (web) (PDF)

Found: the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

Departmental Publication (Transparency)
HM Treasury

Feb. 27 2024

Source Page: Supplementary Estimates 2023-24
Document: Supplementary Estimates 2023-24 (print) (PDF)

Found: the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.