5. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on contingency plans for the continued supply of pharmaceutical drugs to NHS Wales in the event of a no-deal Brexit? OAQ52945

Yes, we are working with the UK Government, which has instructed medicines manufacturers and suppliers to, at present, maintain an extra six weeks’ worth of their products, over and above their usual reserves. We will, of course, continue to work with the UK Government to make sure that we do all that we can should the United Kingdom leave the European Union.

My question leads from a concern raised by a constituent specifically about the supply of insulin to Britain in the event of a 'no deal' Brexit. He raised concerns following remarks made by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency's Sir Michael Rawlins, who warned on 30 July that insulin is not manufactured in Britain, all of it has to be imported and it cannot be transported like other prescription drugs because it's temperature controlled. I submitted a written question to the health secretary—to you—during the summer recess about this, asking what action you were taking, and the response was that you were in regular discussions with the UK Department of Health and you'd keep my office and Assembly Members updated. So, my question is: given the uncertainty that surrounds Brexit at the moment, have there been any significant developments on this matter since I asked my written question? 

The challenge comes with a 'no deal' Brexit and our ability to prepare for the possibility that the United Kingdom crashes out of the European Union at the end of March next year. I don't think I should try to provide false reassurance that all will be well. For every Government, though, in the UK, it is in every Government's interests to make sure that we do all that we can. So, this is about how we try and make sure there is enough supply available. That is still about the arrangements with other countries, because you're right—you can't simply transfer all medicines across borders and not worry about their shelf life. There are approximately 14,500 people with type 1 diabetes in Wales, so this is an issue of real concern. There is a limited supply of insulin within this country, but nothing like enough to care for all of those people with type 1 diabetes. I'm not in a position to provide you with a detailed update at present on this particular issue, but I certainly will do so as soon as it's available because, as I say, it's something that bothers me, and it should bother all of us if a 'no deal' Brexit really does happen, about how we do all that we can in each part of the UK. 

Cabinet Secretary, the External Affairs and Additional Legislation Committee has heard this issue, and insulin was raised, as were radionuclides, which are essential for scanning equipment. I think what the Government has to do, in co-operation with the UK Government, is set in place arrangements over these key medicines and products about how that would be handled. I don't think for a moment the European Union will resist special measures over these very specific products that have problems with their shelf life and temperature in particular. You have to get on with this, and not just say, 'We want to avoid a cliff-edge Brexit'. I do as well. You have to have plans about how to deal with it in these specific areas. 

There are real practical conversations going on between every health department from every nation within the UK, and on this, actually, it's an issue where I and the Scottish health secretary have written to Matt Hancock seeking a meeting to try and put some of the politics aside and to have a practical, face-to-face conversation about what each of us can do. I've yet to have a positive response to the joint offer of a meeting, but I think it would be sensible for Ministers who have responsibility for health departments to have that conversation on a very practical level, because the challenge comes in the fact that the UK Government is acting for the UK in having this conversation on the supply of medicines and products with a limited shelf life. Now, I'm not in control of the conversation with European Union partners. I don't believe they want to punish the UK at all, but there must be some common sense about our arrangements with the rest of the European Union to make sure that that supply is not interrupted. But I can't give you the reassurance you seek that all is necessarily going to be well. I can give you the reassurance that this Government is a willing and genuine partner in looking for an answer, should the United Kingdom leave without satisfactory arrangements in other areas.