Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessments his Department has made of the implications for his policies of (a) supply shortages and (b) manufacturing problems of drugs used by the NHS.

Medicine supply problems can occur for several reasons. For example, they can be due to manufacturing difficulties, regulatory problems, problems with the supply of raw materials, sudden demand spikes or from issues which are related to the distribution of the product.

The production of medicines is complex and highly regulated, and materials and processes must meet rigorous safety and quality standards. Occasionally, the National Health Service experiences temporary shortages of specific medicines

We know how distressing the possibility of shortages can be, however the Department has well-established processes to prevent, manage and mitigate medicine shortages when they do occur. We work with the pharmaceutical industry, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, NHS England, the devolved governments and others operating in the supply chain to strengthen the resilience of supply chains and help ensure patients have access to the treatments they need.