Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the capacity of UK (a) sea ports and (b) airports to maintain the supply of critical medical devices in the event that frictionless trade is not maintained with European Union countries following the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

Patient safety is paramount in our exit negotiations and maintaining continuity of supply of medical products is a key part of ensuring patients continue to receive the safe high-quality care they need on day one of European Union exit and thereafter.

The Department is working closely with cross-Government agencies to ensure that there is no disruption to the supply of medical devices following the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU, regardless of the terms of the withdrawal.

This includes enhancing existing supply chain resilience, scoping out alternative sources of supply and providing means to access critical medical devices at short notice.