Health secretary Matt Hancock has confirmed that medication will be prioritised over food if supply chains are affected by a no-deal Brexit scenario come March 29th.
Speaking at Parliament’s health and social care committee meeting, Mr Hancock explained that the 12,000 medicines currently licensed in the UK have been analysed in detail to ensure continuity of supply if we are left with a no-deal Brexit, iNews reports.
He went on to note that approximately half the medicine imported to the UK has some form of touchpoint with the EU, while the proportion of food that can say the same is far smaller.
Chief executive of NHS England Simon Stevens, also speaking to the committee, added that no-deal contingency plans are already in place, saying: “They involve in the first instance the work that the Department of Health and Social Care is leading with the medicines and devices supply chain, to size buffer stocks and then to ensure that the Department for Transport knows the requirements that the NHS has.”
Discussing the last 60 days of Brexit preparations, head of Brexit at KPMG UK James Stewart noted that almost all larger companies are now readying themselves for leaving the EU – even though many of them are still “praying for an extension to Article 50”.
He went on to say that while the chances of an extension may well have increased, “prudent firms” will be continuing with preparing for a no-deal as long as this is still an option on the table. “Forecasting the outcome of Brexit is a bit like trying to predict a greyhound race, there are no safe bets,” Mr Stewart said.
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