Brexit Drug Shortage Threat Still Acute
Healthcare providers across the UK are still fearful of a potential drug shortage as the threat of a no-deal Brexit looms large. Just days before prime minister Boris Johnson suspended Parliament, the heads of 17 colleges and health charities wrote to him, expressing "significant concerns about shortages of medical supplies. “
The signatories, which include the heads of the Royal College of Physicians, the British Dental Association, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Kidney Care UK and the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said that despite the government’s claim it is “working with the health sector on "robust preparations,” clinicians are "unable to reassure patients that their health and care will not be affected.”
The facilities argue that, given the scale of the National Health Service, without sufficient planning even the smallest of problems could have "huge consequences on the lives of millions of people.” More than two-thirds of the UK's pharmaceutical imports come from the EU.
Along with contingency plans to create more ferry capacity for medicines and other vital supplies on other routes, the government has announced a tender for a £25m contract for express freight services to deliver medicines with a short shelf life within 24 hours. Drugmakers, moreover, have again been told to stockpile six weeks' supply of medications.
A particular concern of the healthcare sector is a shortage of life-saving drugs with a short shelf life, such as insulin. Major manufacturer Novo Nordisk told national broadcaster BBC, however, it had 18 weeks' worth of supplies in the UK and also had secured ferry capacity to renew stocks.
The NHS operates independently in England, Scotland and Wales, and all of its national units have their own concerns. Saffron Cordery, deputy CEO of NHS Providers, which represents hospitals and other trusts in England, said attention should be paid to items that cannot be stockpiled, such as items needed for radiotherapy or drugs that need refrigeration.
UK Healthcare providers warn also that the system will already be overstretched on 31 October 2019, the current official date for the UK to leave the EU, at a time when flu cases will increase. Brexit secretary for Scotland, Mike Russell, said he “cannot absolutely guarantee the supply of medicine to Scotland in the event of a no-deal Brexit.”
Remarking that contingency plans for a no-deal exit have been disrupted by delays to Brexit and the Conservative leadership race, Russell suggested that all drugmakers may not be willing to repeat their stockpiling efforts ahead of the original Brexit date of March 2019. Even if they do, he said they will not be happy about it, as they all “took big losses in March.”
