Neale Richmond
Question:662. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Health the estimated impact Brexit will have on the provision of medicines here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34586/20]
View answerTuesday, 10 November 2020
Questions (662)
Written answers
As part of the whole of government response to Brexit, the Department of Health has established dedicated structures to manage the approach to preparing for the end of the Brexit transition period. In line with the Government decision of May 2020, this readiness work has been intensified on the basis of two scenarios: (i) a limited Free Trade Agreement (FTA), or, (ii) a hard Brexit with the EU and UK trading on World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms.
The Department, the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) and the Health Service Executive (HSE), together with the full support of stakeholders in the medicine supply chain, are implementing a comprehensive and coordinated set of preparations to ensure continuity of health services and continued supply of medicines in the event of a no deal, hard Brexit.
Section 2.5 of the Government’s Brexit Readiness Action Plan, published in September 2020, outlines work which has been undertaken in relation to the supply of medicines and medical devices.
www.dfa.ie/media/dfa/eu/brexit/keydocuments/Brexit-Readiness-Action-Plan.pdf.The Department, the HSE, and the HPRA have facilitated ongoing engagements with manufacturers and suppliers of medicines, to ensure that they are ready for the end of the transition period, to discuss any potential issues that could affect supply to Ireland, including the impact that Covid-19 has had on supply chains, and to identify solutions to maintain supply to the Irish market.
Ireland is unlikely to face general medicine shortages in the period immediately after the end of the transition period. Any emerging supply issues, due to disruption at ports for example, will, in the first instance, be dealt with from existing supplies held within the domestic supply chain. There are already additional stocks of medicines routinely built into the Irish medicine supply chain, which is different to medicine wholesaling models elsewhere.
Through collaborative engagement with medicines manufacturers and wholesalers, they have assured us that they are confident that they will have sufficient stocks to bridge any initial issues at ports, should they occur.
Therefore, there is no need for pharmacists or patients to order extra quantities of medicines, or for doctors to issue additional prescriptions, as doing so could disrupt existing stock levels and hamper the supply of medicines for other patients. Patients should continue to fill their prescriptions and take their medications as they normally would. Significant work has been undertaken to mitigate potential vulnerabilities and risks and to provide a high level of assurance around continuity of care and treatment for patients in Ireland. Work on this will continue, including ongoing monitoring of supplies in Ireland and engagement with industry to adapt supply chains, where necessary, to minimise any potential disruption, up to the end of the transition period and in the weeks and months beyond.
However, medicines shortages inevitably arise from time to time and are a feature of modern health systems around the world. The potential future shortage of any specific medicine will be managed through the existing multi-stakeholder, national Medicine Shortages Framework to prevent the shortage from occurring where possible or, where it does occur, to manage the impact in terms of identifying alternative treatments. The health system is therefore well placed to anticipate and respond to any additional shortages, should they arise because of Brexit. Importantly though, any shortages currently affecting the Irish market are not directly attributable to Brexit.
If a patient has any concerns about their medicine, they are encouraged to speak with their pharmacist or GP.