Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with (a) the Home Office and (b) relevant stakeholders on the supply of Zapain.

We are aware of a supply disruption affecting Zapain. The Department is working with the manufacturer to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

The Department works closely with the Home Office and relevant authorities on supply issues concerning drugs controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. We, however, cannot comment on discussions relating to individual licence holders or prospective licensees about applications that may have been made to the Home Office.

We have well-established processes for managing and mitigating medicine supply issues, which involve working with the pharmaceutical industry, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, NHS England, the devolved governments and others operating in the supply chain to help ensure patients have access to the treatments they need.