Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure there is an adequate supply of medicine, including anaesthetic drugs, to enable urgent cancer surgery to continue during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of our concerted national efforts to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, we are doing everything we can to ensure patients continue to access safe and effective medicines. We are aware there is an increase in demand for a number of intensive care drugs including anaesthetic drugs and we are working with the pharmaceutical industry to make additional supplies available. We are also being ably supported by NHS England and NHS Improvement to ensure all supplies available are managed equitably across the United Kingdom.