SWB Brexit Bulletin – 15 March 2019
March 15, 2019
Welcome to the second Brexit bulletin for SWB colleagues to keep you up to date with the latest news and guidance about NHS national and local preparations.
As you know, there remains no arrangement or deal for leaving the EU and we continue to plan for no deal and transition scenarios.
This bulletin focuses on medicines and supplies.
Across the NHS a great deal of preparation has already been undertaken to ensure that any disruption caused as a result of there being no deal can be minimised.
Along with other NHS organisations, we have robust emergency and business continuity plans in place. We are following advice from government and are able to reassure patients that medicines and equipment will continue to be available and any disruption will be minimal.
Supply of medicines, vaccines, medical devices and clinical consumables
Around three-quarters of the medicines and over half the devices and one-use medical products (such as syringes) that the NHS uses, come into the UK via the EU.
The government has been working closely with pharmaceutical companies, suppliers, and the NHS to make sure patients continue to receive the medication they need if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. Centralised stock is being held by the NHS Supply Chain and action has been taken to ensure the preparedness of over 1300 NHS suppliers, alongside work to prioritise products entering the UK.
We have reviewed our supplier list and compared this to the list provided nationally. We have sought reassurance on the small number of suppliers who have not been engaged nationally. All of these supplies are able to be procured through alternative suppliers and therefore there is minimal risk of any disruption.
The government has analysed the supply chain, made plans to reduce the risk of disruption, and given instructions to pharmaceutical companies/suppliers to ensure that they have adequate stocks to cope with any potential delays at the border. This includes stockpiling a minimum of six weeks additional supply of medicines coming from, or via, the European Union or EEA, over and above business as usual operational buffer stocks. Companies also need to put in place plans to air freight products that have short shelf lives and cannot be stockpiled.
For medical devices, stock holding at a national level has been increased and contingency plans developed with suppliers with, where necessary, an increase in the production and supply of products.
The government has also agreed that medicines and medical products will be prioritised to try to ensure that the flow of all these products will continue unimpeded after 29 March 2019.
We have reviewed our own medicines suppliers and are confident that robust arrangements are in place. We have also looked at alternative medicines should any become hard to get hold of.
NHS organisations have always had to deal with occasional temporary shortages of specific medicines and, as is the case now, our clinicians will discuss with patients and service users the best course of action and, if necessary, prescribe the best available alternative to someone’s usual medication.
We are required not to stockpile any medicines or supplies locally as doing so is likely to create shortages rather than avoid them.
If you have any concerns about medicines or supplies please contact:
Dinah McLannahan, Acting Director of Finance or Pun Sharma, Chief Pharmacist
Black Country Pathology Service
Our Black Country Pathology Service have completed a review of all pathology services operating out of the four Trusts to assess the risks of a no deal Brexit. This has raised no major concerns with adequate plans in place from the majority of suppliers. Our shared service provides us with greater resilience.
For pathology queries related to Brexit please contact Graham Danks, Operations Manager on graham.danks@nhs.net
For other Brexit-related queries please email Toby Lewis, Chief Executive, on tobylewis@nhs.net who is our Senior Responsible Officer for Brexit.