HDA Call to Action 2026

Ensuring the Future: 4 Policies to Reset the Healthcare Distribution Sector

The Healthcare Distribution Association (HDA UK), the representative body for wholesale distributors of medicinal products who supply 95% of all NHS medicines, has developed an updated call-to-action for the new Andy Burnham led Government outlining steps it can take to support the efficient and effective distribution of medicines to patients in the UK.  

As a key component of the UK’s critical national infrastructure delivering 2.1 billion packs of medicines to hospitals, pharmacies and GP practices across the UK, the HDA believes medicine wholesalers should be recognised as such, particularly in the event of unforeseen operational or economic events. The resilience of this comprehensive service is under threat and any interruptions risk undermining timely patient access to medicines and jeopardising patient safety.  

 As a sector operating more than 3500 delivery vehicles to every part of the UK, successive government policy decisions on business rates, national minimum wage and national insurance have forced our members’ costs to serve to climb significantly. The recent crisis in Iran and resultant double-digit surge in fuel costs has added to this upward cost pressure and created an unsustainable burden for HDA members. At current trends, our members estimate fuel costs alone have risen over £10 million per annum due to the crisis. Pharmaceutical wholesalers already operate on incredibly thin margins within a constrained NHS funding environment and these unforeseen and significant increases in operating costs are ones that our members cannot afford to bear alone. 

 The financial viability of the sector is now at risk and the HDA calls on the new Andy Burnham led Government to implement the below four actions within its first 100 days to solidify the viability of this sector and prevent potential service alterations. 

The First 100 Days for Action

The HDA urges the new Government to implement measures under four categories within the first 100 days to alleviate some of the most pressing issues facing the medicines distribution sector. The industry faces significant headwinds including growing financial pressure in community pharmacy, workforce costs, rising fleet and property expenses, and investment in transition to net zero.  

1. Super-deduction 

Introduction of a capital expenditure super-deduction, to unlock further investment in supply chain resilience by our members. Without sustained assistance, the unforeseen and significant increase in fuel costs and broader cost inflationary environment are likely to threaten the overall resilience of the supply chain in the short and mid-term, with potential knock on consequences for patients and the public. 

2. Update to tax system  

Expansion of vehicle excise duty (VED) relief beyond HGVs to include vehicles operated by medicines wholesalers possessing a WDA(H) licence. HDA analysis predicts an expansion to this relief would cost the Government just £1 million, a very low price for the benefit it will yield. 

 Additionally, companies responsible for medicines distribution should be treated as a special case during further reforms of business rates and must not conflated with other warehouse-based sectors who do not provide life-saving treatments for high-street pharmacies, patients and the NHS. As such, any introduction of higher business rates on super-warehouses should include a carve-out for WDA(H) holders.  

3. Green grants 

Greater incentives and financial support for healthcare distributors to better enable the transition to Net Zero, including prioritised access to EV charging and the introduction of PV infrastructure grants.  

Any further Government grants should include specific and ringfenced provisions for medicine wholesalers to ensure they are adequately supported during the transition.  

4. NHS Debt Protection

Mandate NHS hospitals and trusts to pay for medicines in a timely manner as required under the terms of the Better Payment Practice Code (BPPC) which mandates all NHS organisations pay valid, undisputed supplier invoices by the due date or within 30 days of receipt, whichever is later. Despite this, secondary care debt owed to HDA members reached £43.5 million in January 2026 with some NHS Trusts consistently failing their BPPC obligations. HDA members operate on increasingly thin margins therefore if invoices continue to remain unpaid, the financial viability of supplying and delivering NHS trusts may need to be reconsidered until debts are cleared.  

 In primary care, Government must provide the same debt underwriting and backing to pharmacies and GPs as is currently applied to NHS trusts to ensure medicine wholesalers are not left out of pocket should these primary care facilities go out of business.  

These immediate and sustained actions are crucial to revitalising the medicines distribution sector and ensuring that the UK retains its resilient, efficient, and sustainable healthcare system.  

Note to Editors: 

The Healthcare Distribution Association (HDA) represents businesses who supply medicines, medical devices and healthcare services to patients, pharmacies, hospitals, dispensing doctors, and the pharmaceutical industry.  

HDA members operate across the four nations of the United Kingdom, enabling a safe, efficient and high-quality supply chain for the healthcare sector, delivering 95% of the NHS’s medicines. 

As the trade body representing all leading companies that provide pharmaceutical wholesaling services across the UK, the HDA has always supported proportionate regulation to ensure the resilience of the UK’s healthcare supply sector while promoting innovation and adaptability. 

Further Questions 

If you have further questions about the HDA’s ‘Ensuring the Future: 10 Policies to Reset the Healthcare Distribution Sector’ please contact our CEO Alex Williams, at awilliams@hdauk.co.uk. 

 Media Contact 

For all media inquiries, please contact acassoulat@hdauk.co.uk  

London, 06 February 2026: The HDA welcomes this week’s publication of The House of Lords Public Services Committee report on medicines security which outlines a clear and urgent case for strengthening the resilience of the UK’s medicines supply chain to better support the nation’s health.

The Committee’s report rightly recognises the UK medicine supply chain’s increasing vulnerability to disruption driven in part by reliance on global, and in some instances, single source supply chains, changing geopolitical conditions and pressures on domestic systems.

At HDA UK, we welcome the Committee’s recommendations on these critical issues, many of which HDA has long been advocating for and we remain committed to working with the Government and our industry partners to ensure patients have access to the right medicine, in the right place, at the right time.

To address these challenges, the HDA would welcome the Government prioritising several of the report’s specific recommendations to enact significant improvements:

• Acceleration of the digitisation of the medicine supply chain, including mandating 2D barcodes to support effective stock management.

• Tackling inspection and licensing backlogs for Controlled Drugs premises, with a review of responsibilities if no progress is made within six months.

• Mandating greater information sharing regarding stock levels so that the Department of Health can better judge demand and shortage risks.

• Improving communications regarding shortages by providing information in a more timely manner to pharmacies and hospitals.

Commenting on the report’s publication and recommendations, HDA Executive Director, Martin Sawer noted:

“The HDA welcomes the House of Lords Public Services Committee report and recommendations many of which the HDA supports.  As this comprehensive inquiry concluded: ‘The Government has to understand the value of resilience and decide how much it is willing to work with industry to achieve this.’ Medicines supply should be considered as national critical infrastructure, and this report backs this up”.

HDA UK – Facilitating Digitisation of the UK Medicines Supply Chain.  

The Healthcare Distribution Association (HDA UK), representing wholesale distributors of medicinal products in the UK, believes that in line with the ‘adoption of new technologies’ goals of the Government’s NHS 10 year plan that UK medicines legislation should be brought up to date to allow the adoption of paperless technologies in the distribution of medicines.

HDA members are committed to reducing the impact of their operations on our environment.

Government Policy

The government has recently announced a shake-up of tech and AI usage across NHS and other public services to deliver plan for change, it wants to ensure that technology will be better used to improve public services. Shake up of tech and AI usage across NHS and other public services to deliver plan for change – GOV.UK

HDA Believes that transitioning from paper to electronic delivery documentation would support this policy enabling increased efficiency and productivity.

Currently regulation mandates that a paper delivery note (or invoice) should accompany all medicines whether the customer wants them or not. These invoices are included in all wholesaler deliveries, whether from the wholesaler to another wholesaler, community pharmacy, dispensing doctor or other customer type.

The digital technology is in many cases already in place and the paper document is not used and simply discarded.

The MHRA is seeking views from stakeholders on its proposals to amend GDP Guidance to include the provision to transmit supply documentation from wholesalers electronically- Engagement on facilitating the use of digital packing notes to accompany medicinal products

Benefits of utilising paperless distribution

• Reduce waste and paper production
  • Many millions of paper delivery documents are produced every year, paperless technology would reduce this outdated demand on our natural resources.
• Reduce cost for customers and wholesalers
  • By reducing the reliance on paper documentation customers and adopting new technology customers (particularly in the NHS) would benefit from lower processing and paper transporting costs.
  • Wholesalers would use less paper and reduce their costs
  • The machinery to print delivery documents at scale and speed is very expensive, digitisation would reduce the requirements for such technology.
• Improve efficiency
  • Electronic methodology will allow for faster and more accurate processes in pharmacies, doctors and hospitals.
  • The adoption of paperless Controlled Drug Requisition documents will facilitate this process and avoid the challenges of lost or mislaid paper documents
• Improve accuracy of invoices
  • Electronic documents can be modified up to the point that a delivery leaves the wholesalers service centre- much later than can be achieved using paper documents. This means invoices will be more accurate and avoiding the uncertainty and inefficiency that comes with that comes with handwritten amendments to invoices.

Transition

Of course, as with any change to regulation or new technology a period of transition will be required, the fact that some customers are not yet ready to utilise new technology should not stand in the way of those who want to do so.

Wholesalers are adopting new returns/recalls/queries portals that avoid the need for customers to use paper documentation to perform these tasks.

Tried and tested electronic Proof of Delivery methodologies are already in use across the medicines supply chain.

Who we are

HDA UK represents businesses who store, manage, and distribute medicines, medical devices and healthcare services to community pharmacies, hospitals, and dispensing doctors. Our member companies are responsible for distributing 95% of the NHS’ medicines, enabling a safe, efficient, and high-quality supply chain for patients, the NHS, and the healthcare sector.

Ensuring the Future: 8 Policies to Reset the Healthcare Distribution Sector

After extensive engagement with relevant stakeholders and our members, the Healthcare Distribution Association (HDA) the representative body for wholesale distributors of medicinal products, distributing 95% of all NHS medicines, has developed a call-to-action outlining steps the new Labour Government can take to support the efficient and effective distribution of medicines to patients in the UK. This call-to-action outlines some ‘quick fixes’ which can be implemented within the first 100 days of Government to support the industry as well as some longer term, more institutional changes which will foster longer lasting and more impactful change.

HDA and its member companies believe that the current medicines supply chain is fit for purpose, having withstood COVID-19 shocks, and provides great service and delivers excellent value for patients, healthcare professionals and the UK taxpayer on a daily basis. Every year HDA members deliver 2.1bn packs of medicines to healthcare professionals across the UK, delivering twice per day on average.

A key issue for the sector is that of medicine availability and HDA member companies already dedicate significant systems and resources, working with government, regulators and other supply chain actors to identify, prevent and mitigate such challenges, whether caused by supply disruption, demand increases, or a combination of factors.

The First 100 Days for Action

The HDA urges the new Labour Government to implement measures under five categories within the first 100 days of Government to alleviate some of the most pressing issues facing the medicines distribution sector. The industry faces significant challenges including growing financial issues in community pharmacy, workforce pressures, and a transition to net zero.

Addressing these issues within the first 100 days is essential for ensuring the healthcare distribution industry’s continued resilience, efficiency, and viability.

1. Digital First Regulation – Ensure Parliamentary time to allow debate and endorsement of paperless invoicing throughout the medicines supply chain (by laying appropriate Statutory Instruments). This will create a safer, more efficient and environmentally sustainable record of transactions.

2. A Strong Medicines Supply Chain – Greater financial support for the sector should be considered, including long-term, sustained and appropriate funding for community pharmacies. Incentives for global manufacturers to supply the UK are also critical in ensuring that our sector has enough medicines to distribute to an ever-increasing number of patients. NHS Hospitals should be mandated to pay for medicines in a timely manner.

3. Accelerating The Transition to Net Zero – Re-evaluate regulatory requirements regarding the temperature control of ambient medicines during transportation, balancing patient safety with the imperative to reduce energy consumption.

4. Immediate action to unlock Controlled Drug regulation – Healthcare distributors are currently experiencing significant delays to the Controlled Drug licensing process, potentially putting the supply of critical treatments to patients at risk.

5. Business Rates – Companies responsible for medicines distribution should be treated as a special case during any reform of business rates and not conflated with other warehouse-based sectors, who do not provide life-saving treatments for high-street pharmacies, patients and the NHS. Like in the European Union, exemption from higher business rates must be made for medicine distributors, and wider public services, to ensure the cost of medicines do not rise for the public.

Institutional Actions for Longer-Term Change

Alongside the above ‘quick fix’ actions, longer-term, more sustained change is essential to secure and maintain a robust and effective pharmaceutical supply chain. The measures outlined below list the actions that HDA believes the Government should consider in order to foster long lasting and impactful change within the industry.

1. An Adaptive and Risk-Based Approach to Regulation – Regulators to place an enhanced focus on a risk-based approach to regulating the sector which is consistently compliant with regulations, including a greater focus on businesses and organisations with higher-risk operating models. 

2. Funding The Transition to Net Zero – Consider incentives and financial support for healthcare distributors, as they transition on behalf of the NHS, to practices and operations which enable the move to Net Zero, in particular the electrification of delivery fleets. More specifically, an intensive and frequent medicines distribution network, operating across the four countries of the UK, urgently requires robust electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

3. Staffing and Workforce– Consider additional funding, incentives and support for regulation-mandated training to underpin the upskilling of medicines supply chain staff, to match rising demand and increase training-related requirements.

These immediate and sustained actions are crucial to revitalising the medicines distribution sector and ensuring that the UK retains its resilient, efficient, and sustainable healthcare system.

Note to Editors:

The Healthcare Distribution Association (HDA) represents businesses who supply medicines, medical devices and healthcare services to patients, pharmacies, hospitals, dispensing doctors, and the pharmaceutical industry.

HDA members operate across the four nations of the United Kingdom, enabling a safe, efficient and high-quality supply chain for the healthcare sector, delivering 95% of the NHS’s medicines.

As the trade body representing all leading companies that provide pharmaceutical wholesaling services across the UK, the HDA has always supported proportionate regulation to ensure the resilience of the UK’s healthcare supply sector while promoting innovation and adaptability.

Further Questions

If you have further questions about the HDA’s ‘Ensuring the Future: 8 Policies to Reset the Healthcare Distribution Sector’ please contact our Executive Director Martin Sawer, at msawer@hdauk.co.uk.

Media Contact

For all media inquiries, please contact secretariat@hdauk.co.uk

Media Coverage

More than 90% of pharmacies say medicines shortages have got worse over the past year
The Pharmaceutical Journal, Saša Janković, 9 May 2024

The Pharmaceutical Journal reports on Community Pharmacy England’s national Pharmacy Pressures Survey 2024: Medicines Supply Report which found that 94% of pharmacy owners spend more time sourcing medicines now than at the same point in 2023. 84% of respondents reported spending longer than ever sourcing medicines.

Janet Morrison, Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy England, described the current medicine supply challenge as “beyond critical” and said the report makes “distressing reading” and “should be ringing alarm bells”.

William Pett, Head of Policy and Research at Healthwatch England, called for “a review of the medicine supply chain to ensure safety and resilience, and for pharmacy teams to be given flexibility…to make changes to medicines they dispense in collaboration with patients”.

This report was also reported on by P3pharmacy, Dispensing Doctors’ Association and ITV News.

Parliamentary Coverage

MHRA launches AI Airlock to address challenges for regulating medical devices that use Artificial Intelligence
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, 9 May 2024

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has today launched AI Airlock, a new regulatory sandbox to help with the safe development and deployment of AI medical devices (AIaMD) by addressing novel regulatory challenges.

Dr Paul Campbell, Head of Software and AI at the MHRA, welcomed the tool’s launch noting that the Agency is “currently seeing a marked increase in innovative AIaMD products entering the UK market” and reinforced the Agency’s aim to “balance appropriate oversight to protect patient safety with the agility needed to respond to the particular challenges presented by these products”.

Carbamazepine
Catherine West MP (Labour, Hornsey and Wood Green): To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had recent discussions with Novartis on the adequacy of supply of the epilepsy medication Tegretol.

Andrew Stephenson MP (Conservative, Pendle): The Department has been working intensively to address issues with the supply of some epilepsy medications, and as a result we have helped to resolve issues with Tegretol 200 milligram and 400 milligram prolonged release tablets, and Tegretol 100 milligram immediate release tablets. We are aware of a shortage of Tegretol 100 milligram/5 millilitre liquid, but have been advised that resupplies are expected this month. We are continuing to work closely with manufacturers, including Novartis, to help ensure the continued supply of these medicines for patients in the United Kingdom, for example by asking suppliers to expedite deliveries.

Whilst we can’t always prevent supply issues, we have a range of well-established tools and processes to mitigate risks to patients. These include close and regular engagement with suppliers, use of alternative strengths or forms of a medicine to allow patients to remain on the same product, expediting regulatory procedures, sourcing unlicensed imports from abroad, adding products to the restricted exports and hoarding list, use of Serious Shortage Protocols, and issuing National Health Service communications to provide management advice and information on the issue to healthcare professionals, so they can advise and support their patients.

Pharmacy: Drugs
Catherine West MP (Labour, Hornsey and Wood Green): To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help tackle shortages of medicines in pharmacies.

Andrew Stephenson MP (Conservative, Pendle): The Department has a responsibility to work with United Kingdom medicine license holders, to help ensure continuity of supply. We monitor and manage medicine supply at a national level, so that stocks remain available to meet regional and local demand. There are approximately 14,000 medicines licensed for supply in the UK, and the overwhelming majority are in good supply. The medicine supply chain is complex, global, and highly regulated, and supply issues can be caused by a range of factors. For example, suppliers can encounter manufacturing problems, difficulty accessing raw materials, and surges in demand. These are commonly cited as the drivers of recent supply issues, which have affected many countries, not just the UK.

Whilst we can’t always prevent supply issues, we have a range of well-established tools and processes to mitigate risks to patients at a national level. These include close and regular engagement with suppliers, use of alternative strengths or forms of a medicine to allow patients to remain on the same product, expediting regulatory procedures, sourcing unlicensed imports from abroad, adding products to the restricted exports and hoarding list, use of Serious Shortage Protocols, and issuing National Health Service communications to provide management advice and information on the issue to healthcare professionals including pharmacists, so they can advise and support their patients.

Full Coverage

More than 90% of pharmacies say medicines shortages have got worse over the past year
The Pharmaceutical Journal, Saša Janković, 9 May 2024

The vast majority of community pharmacy owners have said that medicines shortages have got worse over the past year, a survey by Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has revealed.

The survey of more than 2,000 community staff members and the owners of more than 6,000 pharmacy premises, results of which were published on 9 May 2024, also revealed that medicines supply problems were affecting 99% of community pharmacies at least weekly, with 72% experiencing multiple shortages each day.

CPE’s ‘Pharmacy pressures survey: medicines supply report‘ also reported that 94% of pharmacy owners said their teams now spent more time sourcing medicines compared with the same point in 2023, while 84% said they were spending longer than ever before sourcing medicines.

The survey also revealed that 79% of pharmacy staff said that patient health was being put at risk owing to medicine supply issues, with 84% of team members experiencing aggression from patients as a result.

The report’s authors concluded that medicines across a range of clinical and therapeutic areas were being affected by supply disruptions at different times, with issues in 2024 affecting “in particular medicines used for the treatment of diabetes, ADHD, and epilepsy”, while there were “availability issues with HRT, adrenalines and antibiotics” in 2023.

Fin McCaul, managing director of Prestwich Pharmacy in Manchester, told The Pharmaceutical Journal: “This is the longest period of continuous disruption that I’ve ever experienced and it’s a constant issue. In the past, shortages were confined to one molecule but now they change from product to product to product in every disease area across the board, from cardiology and diabetes, to respiratory, pain, ADHD, mental health medicines.”

Anil Sharma, pharmacist and director of Medicines4U in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, told The Pharmaceutical Journal: “Sometimes up to 10% of things we place on order are coming up as out of stock and it’s costing us one to two hours a day of extra staffing time to resolve, even though these are really common drugs.

“We will try to order the drug two or three times but if we can’t get it by the third day we will ask the patient’s surgery for an alternative, but sometimes there is no clinically suitable alternative product, and this can end up being a matter of life or death for many patients.”

Describing the medicine supply challenges being faced by community pharmacies and their patients as “beyond critical”, Janet Morrison, chief executive of CPE, said the survey results “make distressing reading, and they should be ringing alarm bells for anybody interested in protecting the health and wellbeing of local communities and the public”.

“We’ve been warning for some time that these issues must be resolved, and this evidence provides yet another stark warning which must not be ignored,” she added.

In March 2024, The Pharmaceutical Journal revealed that manufacturers reported medicines shortages to the Department of Health and Social Care an average of 137 times per month in 2023, compared with 82 times per month in 2021.

Patient mouthpiece Healthwatch published research on medicines shortages in April 2024, which showed that 24% of patients had experienced their pharmacy not having stock of their medicines in the past year.

Responding to the results of CPE’s survey, William Pett, head of policy and research at Healthwatch England, said: “Healthwatch England hears about how shortages can lead to rationing and desperate instances of ‘pharmacy bingo’, where patients must travel from pharmacy to pharmacy looking for stock.

“We are calling for a review of the medicine supply chain to ensure safety and resilience, and for pharmacy teams to be given flexibility, where it is safe to do so, to make changes to medicines they dispense in collaboration with patients.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “There are around 14,000 licensed medicines and the overwhelming majority are in good supply. Supply issues can arise for a wide range of reasons and are not specific to the UK.
“Our priority is to mitigate risks posed by those issues and to help ensure that patients continue to get the treatments they need. Thankfully, most issues can be managed with minimal impact to patients.

“We recognise the vital role pharmacies play in our healthcare system and that’s why they are backed by £2.6bn a year in government funding.”

MHRA launches AI Airlock to address challenges for regulating medical devices that use Artificial Intelligence
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, 9 May 2024

Last month, the MHRA set out its strategic approach to AI in response to a white paper published in 2023 by Government. This pilot project is a key part of that approach. It will help the Agency to identify and address the challenges for regulating standalone AI medical devices (AIaMD), initially seeking out and supporting 4-6 virtual or real-world projects through simulation. This will allow us to test a range of regulatory issues for these devices when they are used for direct clinical purposes within the NHS.

The regulatory sandbox model is a recognised mechanism to help address novel regulatory challenges across sectors. The AI Airlock is a world-leading version in healthcare, designed to assist in safe development and deployment of AIaMDs, and this project will follow that robust process so manufacturers can deliver what is required to ensure the real-world viability of these devices.

The MHRA’s regulatory AI Airlock takes into account evidence-based work produced by other bodies with a similar focus and we will work collaboratively with the NHS AI Lab and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). AIaMD products are deployed via NHS infrastructure, making the Devolved Nations crucial to regulatory discussions around deployment and post-market surveillance.

The findings from this partnership between government, regulators and industry will inform future AI Airlock projects and influence future UK and international AIaMD guidance, including how we work with UK Approved Bodies on UKCA marking and with trusted regulatory partners on international recognition of medical devices.

Dr Paul Campbell, MHRA Head of Software and AI, said:

We are currently seeing a marked increase in innovative AIaMD products entering the UK market that have the potential to revolutionise the healthcare landscape and provide improved ways to address patient and public needs.

As a regulator, we must balance appropriate oversight to protect patient safety with the agility needed to respond to the particular challenges presented by these products to ensure we continue to be an enabler for innovation.

The launch of the AI Airlock will enhance our collective understanding and accelerate solutions to novel regulatory challenges, ultimately improving the experience of patients.

This fact-finding approach is key to safeguarding patients as we learn about the full potential of this technology. Where AI Airlock can enhance the relationship between developers and manufacturers with the MHRA as a regulatory body, in the future, it may also serve to support confidence in patient engagement and the safe use of AIaMD products.

MHRA’s regulatory sandbox is an expanding offering in the healthcare technology space, and investment in innovative solutions is underway to position the NHS as an industry leader by 2030.

Media Coverage

There was no media coverage today.

Parliamentary Coverage

Atorvastatin: Shortages
Justin Madders MP (Labour, Ellesmere Port and Neston): To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with stakeholders on tackling shortages of atorvastatin.

Andrew Stephenson MP (Conservative, Pendle): There have been supply issues with atorvastatin, but as a result of our work to manage those issues, including engaging with alternative suppliers to cover supply gaps in order to meet demand, they have now been resolved.

The medicine supply chain is highly regulated, complex, and global. Supply disruption is an issue which affects the United Kingdom, as well as other countries around the world. There can be a variety of causes, including manufacturing issues, problems with access to raw ingredients, and sudden spikes in demand.

Whilst we can’t always prevent supply issues, the Department has well-established tools and processes to manage them, in order to mitigate risks to patients. We work closely with the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and others operating in the supply chain to help ensure patients continue to have access to suitable medicines when supply is disrupted.

Ezetimibe: Shortages
Justin Madders MP (Labour, Ellesmere Port and Neston): To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with relevant stakeholders on tackling shortages of Ezetimibe.

Andrew Stephenson MP (Conservative, Pendle): The Department is aware of supply issues affecting several Ezetimibe suppliers. We are engaging with these suppliers to address the issues, and are working with alternative suppliers to ensure supplies remain available.

The medicine supply chain is highly regulated, complex, and global. Supply disruption is an issue which affects the United Kingdom, as well as other countries around the world. There can be a variety of causes, including manufacturing issues, problems with access to raw ingredients, and sudden spikes in demand.

Whilst we can’t always prevent supply issues, the Department has well-established tools and processes to manage them, in order to mitigate risks to patients. We work closely with the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and others operating in the supply chain to help ensure patients continue to have access to suitable medicines when supply is disrupted.

Pharmacy: Finance
Grahame Morris MP (Labour, Easington): To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the medication reimbursement mechanism for community pharmacists.

Andrew Stephenson MP (Conservative, Pendle): Through the medicine margin survey, the Department assesses whether the reimbursement arrangements pay pharmacy contractors as agreed as part of the community pharmacy contractual framework (CPCF). The medicine margin survey considers what pharmacies paid for medicines by looking at their invoices compared to the amount reimbursed by the National Health Service. Where the survey finds that they have been underpaid, we increase the pharmacy contractors’ payments, and where they have been overpaid, we decrease payments.

Furthermore, where pharmacies cannot purchase products at or below the Drug Tariff NHS reimbursement price, Community Pharmacy England can request that the Department reassesses the reimbursement price. If a new reimbursement price is issued, this is known as a concessionary price.

Dear member,

Please find below the GIRP Press Review for 22/03/2024 – 28/03/2024

GIRP Press Review 22.03.2024 -28.03.2024

The HDA Secretariat

London, 25 October 2023: The HDA has signed a joint letter to Health Secretary Steve Barclay MP calling on the Department of Health and Social Care, the UK Health Security Agency and NHS England to begin planning the 2024/2025 winter vaccination programme as soon as possible in order to ensure that plans are well established ahead of the 2024/2024 flu season.

The letter was also signed by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, vaccine manufacturer CSL Seqirus, NHS Confederation Primary Care Network, and the Dispensing Doctors’ Association.

Alastair Buxton, Director of NHS Services at Community Pharmacy England, said:

“Community pharmacy teams always plan their winter vaccination provision many months before the autumn. This year their efforts were hampered in August when NHS England moved the goalposts on the flu vaccination service start date, only to change its mind again a couple of weeks later. This was a shambolic start to the vaccination programme and caused unnecessary work and hassle for pharmacy owners and their teams. This sort of policy to-ing and fro-ing must not be repeated and we hope to begin constructive conversations with NHS and the Government very soon to help next year’s programme run more smoothly for all.”

Dear member,

Please find below the GIRP Press Review for 06/07/2023 – 13/07/2023

Press Review 06.07.2023 – 13.07.2023

The HDA Secretariat

Dear member,

Please find below the GIRP Press Review for 23/06/2023 – 29/06/2023

Press Review 16.06.2023 – 22.06.2023

The HDA Secretariat