Chief Medical Officer Admits We May Not Be Able To Get Medicine After No-Deal Brexit

7 February 2019, 08:28 | Updated: 7 February 2019, 09:11

England's Chief Medical Officer has told LBC she is concerned that a no-deal Brexit could mean the NHS cannot get the medicine it needs to save lives.

Professor Dame Sally Davies confirmed they have been stockpiling key drugs, but warned that these will only last for six weeks.

Speaking to Nick Ferrari, she said: "With the Department of Health, I am working very hard to make sure we have as good as possible supply of drugs, medical consumables and everything we need for the health of our people."

Asked if she was confident, she responded: "No, I do worry about a hard Brexit and whether we will have all the drugs we need to save lives.

"Most drugs come in through Dover and I think we will worry particularly about drugs where only a few people use them.

"We may be able to get them in, a lot of work is going on, but we don't know whether we'll have shortages of common drugs or drugs that are used only a little.

"We are doing everything we can to make sure there's a good supply."

Nick queried on how long the stockpile will last and Dame Sally said: "We're stockpiling for a number of weeks. It is six weeks we are stockpiling for.

"We will have to make sure as good a supply as possible comes in through our ports and that's what's being done."

Her comments reflect those of the Chief Executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, who said we must avoid a no-deal Brexit at all costs.

Earlier this year, Mike Thompson told LBC: "Our message is, when parliamentarians come to think about the options in front of them, no-deal is something which they should avoid at all costs because of the challenges it will give everybody.

"I don't want to get involved into the politics of all of this. I'm just saying that no-deal creates significant challenges for us."