THE new Scottish Health Secretary has been pressed to outline what she is doing to ensure the country does not run out of medicine and medical equipment as fears mount over the UK leaving the European Union without a deal.
Jeane Freeman, who was appointed as Shona Robison’s successor in last week’s reshuffle, was asked to outline her plans after it emerged the service south of the Border is building up supply stores in the event of problems caused by a cliff-edge Brexit.
“It is clear we must all prepare for the potential of a truly disastrous no-deal Brexit,” said Ross Greer, the Scottish Greens’ Europe spokesman.
“The Tories claim that NHS England has ‘extensive’ plans in place if Theresa May fails to get a deal, so it makes sense for the new health secretary here in Scotland to outline our backup plans for ensuring there is no gap in medicine and equipment supplies. A no-deal scenario has the potential to cripple the country and while we fight against the idiocy driving us towards it, we must also be ready to protect Scotland from it as best we can.”
Greer put his question after Simon Stevens, the chief executive of the NHS in England, said over the weekend that “significant planning” was under way south of the Border to ensure that patients did not go without if drugs were held up by new border checks.
Stevens had previously said he had not been asked to prepare for a no-deal Brexit, but said that he was now working with the UK Government to protect medicine supplies.
Every month 37 million medicine packs arrive from the rest of the EU and civil servants have warned that hospitals could run out of medicines with two weeks under a no-deal situation.
Earlier this year the Commons European scrutiny committee called on the UK Government to set out how it will ensure “a secure supply of medical radioisotopes” when the UK forfeits its membership of Euratom, which regulates Europe’s nuclear industry, including the supply of medical isotopes essential for types of cancer treatment and diagnosis.
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The SNP’s Philippa Whitford, a breast cancer surgeon, warned the committee that during a previous shortage of medical isotopes: “We were faced with having to ration bone scans to only the most urgent or worrying cases.”
In response to Greer, a Scottish Government spokesman said “it was engaging with the UK Government” about preparations for Brexit, but that the process was proving “difficult”.
“Brexit is the number one threat to our health service. It is worrying there are now concerns about access to medicines, however, that is a direct consequence of the UK Government’s negotiating stance and the threat it raises regarding a potential no-deal scenario,” the spokesman said.
“We are engaging with the UK Government about preparations for Brexit – but that has proven difficult when they are unable, even at this very late stage, to answer even basic questions.”
He added: “All these worries would be reduced if the UK Government abandoned its plans for a hard Brexit and committed to staying inside the single market and customs union, while also securing the UK’s place within the European Medical Agency as soon as possible.”
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