Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the study published by Oxford Academic on 17 February 2017 on inappropriate checks undertaken by online pharmacies, if he will discuss with the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency means to prevent the online sale of antibiotics and other medicines without appropriate checks.

Standards for United Kingdom online pharmacy services are the responsibility of the relevant professional regulatory bodies. These are the General Pharmaceutical Council and the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is working with the General Medical Council, the General Pharmaceutical Council and the Care Quality Commission to monitor issues arising from online services. The four regulatory bodies issued a joint statement on 3 March stressing that providers and healthcare professionals working for online services must provide safe and effective care, including following professional guidelines on this matter. The Department is aware and supportive of this important work.