Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with relevant stakeholders on the availability of GLP-1 medication.

There are global supply issues with glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs), which are licensed for treating patients with type 2 diabetes. This appears to be largely driven by off-label prescribing for weight loss, which has led to shortages of these medicines for patients with type 2 diabetes.

We are working closely with national diabetes specialists, the National Health Service, wholesalers, all manufacturers of these medicines and the relevant regulatory bodies and agencies to address this problem and to understand how we can help ensure type 2 diabetic patients continue to get access to treatment.

The Department routinely shares information about medicine supply issues directly with the NHS so they can put management plans in place to mitigate the risk of the shortages impacting patients.

We have issued guidance in the form of a Medicine Supply Notification, addressing all GLP-1 RAs, advising healthcare professionals on how to manage patients requiring these medicines.