Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with the devolved Administrations on the (a) need and (b) potential ability for the UK to create radionuclides for use in healthcare.

The Department has not made a specific assessment. The Department regularly engages with suppliers, specialist clinicians, the British Nuclear Medicine Society, and the UK Radiopharmacy Group to support the continued supply of medical radioisotopes for National Health Services. There are six trusted research reactors which play a critical role in global radiopharmaceutical production, none of which are in the United Kingdom. The Department continues to work with the NHS and other parts of the Government, and the devolved administrations, to better understand future needs for medical radioisotopes.

From an NHS perspective, as part of making available new treatments and interventions, consideration is given to a range of factors, including demand and supply. The NHS has got processes in place to escalate and manage business continuity, including medicines supply.