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 effect of the UK leaving the EU on 29 March 2019 on the supply of medicines to the UK for NHS use.

Our number one priority is to ensure patients continue to have unhindered access to medicines as we exit the European Union and we are working with all sectors in the supply chain to ensure this happens.

The Government remains committed to leaving the EU with a deal. Under the conditions of the Withdrawal Agreement, there will be a two-year Implementation Period within which the Government will negotiate the United Kingdom’s future relationship with the EU. During the Implementation Period, there will be no change to the current trading arrangements with the EU/European Economic Area (EEA), meaning the supply of medicines and medical products will continue unhindered.

As a responsible Government, we are planning for all possible exit scenarios, including ‘no deal’. Our ‘no deal’ medicines supply contingency plans include sensible mitigations for medicines that come to the United Kingdom from or via the EU/ EEA to ensure that the supply of essential medicines, is not disrupted.

In August 2018, the Department wrote to all pharmaceutical companies that supply prescription-only and pharmacy medicines to the UK that come from, or via, the EU/EEA asking them to ensure a minimum of six weeks additional supply in the UK, over and above existing business-as-usual buffer stocks, by 29 March 2019. The response from industry has been very positive. The vast majority of companies have confirmed stockpiling plans are in place.

On 7 December, the Government published updated reasonable worst-case scenario border disruption planning assumptions in the event of a ‘no deal’ EU exit. Medicines and medical products are prioritised in cross-Government planning, and the Department is working with relevant partners across Government and industry to ensure we have sufficient roll-on, roll-off freight capacity on alternative routes to enable these vital products to continue to move freely into the UK.

We are confident that if everyone does what they need to do, supplies will continue unhindered. The Department does not expect to see significant changes to existing medicine supply chains or capacity in the intervening period between now and 29 March 2019, although we will be monitoring this closely.