Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on (a) the suitability of country-level forecasts of supply needs for medicines up to three years in advance and (b) the steps needed to reduce medicine shortages from unexpected rises in demand including for (i) Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and (ii) hormone replacement therapy.

Given the inherent global nature of medical supply chains, international collaboration is key to strengthening supply resilience. The United Kingdom is committed to working with international partners to enhance the resilience and security of medical supply chains. We regularly engage with international partners, bilaterally and multilaterally, to exchange information on approaches to strengthen medical supply chains including approaches to manage and reduce shortages.

The Department and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) both participate in the Drug Shortages Global Regulatory Working Group, an international forum of medicine regulatory authorities from the UK alongside Australia, Canada, Japan, the United States and the European Medicines Agency, with the World Health Organisation as an observer. Information is shared about shortages of medicines with a global impact, including medicines used for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and actions are taken to prevent, monitor and mitigate their impact.

While we cannot always prevent supply issues from occurring, we have a range of well-established processes and tools to manage them when they arise and mitigate risks to patients. We continue to work closely with suppliers and other stakeholders such as the National Health Service and MHRA to maintain supply of medicines used for ADHD and Hormone Replacement Treatment (HRT) across the UK during any shortages. This includes working to expedite resupply dates of the disrupted products to resolve issues as soon as possible and engaging with new suppliers of medicines to increase supply capacity and resilience, to help fill supply gaps and prevent future shortages. As a result of intensive work, the supply issues affecting medicines used for ADHD and HRT are now largely resolved.