Today (Tuesday 14th April), the Medicines Supply Resilience Group (MSRG) hosted a reception at the House of Commons. The reception brought together a wide array of stakeholders across the medicines supply chain to discuss the steps needed to strengthen resilience and protect patient access to vital medicines in the UK.
The reception heard from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health Innovation and Safety, Dr Zubir Ahmed MP, Sadik Al-Hassan MP, Chair of the All-Party Pharmacy Group; Clare Pelham, Chief Executive of Epilepsy Society; and Julian Beach, Interim Executive Director of Healthcare Quality and Access at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
The event saw the launch of a new 2D animation on the UK medicines supply chain, illustrating the complexity of the supply chain and the huge pressures it faces. The Group also launched a suite of materials designed to raise greater awareness of how the supply chain operates. The materials also showed how greater resilience must be built in order to protect patients and taxpayers. This included a detailed explainer of the complex, global and interdependent supply chain, and the benefits of a digital-first approach to Patient Information Leaflets (PILs).
The MSRG is an industry-led group attended by senior officials from the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS and MHRA, to discuss and identify tangible measures to build supply chain resilience. It is currently sponsored by AbbVie, Accord and Viatris and hosted by the Company Chemists’ Association (CCA).
Malcolm Harrison, Chief Executive of the CCA said:
“Today’s reception showed the real value of bringing stakeholders from across the UK’s medicines supply chain, from industry, patient groups and government together.
By working collaboratively across the supply chain, we can focus on identifying and delivering practical and tangible steps to strengthen resilience and respond to the pressures facing the supply chain.
We are grateful to representatives of the Medicines Supply Resilience Group (MSRG) for their continued efforts in enhancing supply chain resilience, and to our sponsors, AbbVie, Accord and Viatris for their continued support.
Shared effort is vital to enhancing supply chain resilience and ensuring patients continue to have reliable access to the medicines they depend on.”
Sadik Al-Hassan MP, Chair of the All-Party Pharmacy Group, who sponsored the reception said:
“As Chair of the All-Party Pharmacy Group (APPG) and a pharmacist myself, I have witnessed first-hand the devastating impact that medicine shortages can have on patients.
As the APPG reported last year, shortages have moved from becoming isolated incidents to a chronic structural challenge for both the NHS and pharmacy sector.
Efforts to enhance the resilience of the supply chain are required to protect patient access to vital medicines.
I commend the Company Chemists’ Association for creating the Medicines Supply Resilience Group and urge policymakers and representatives across the supply chain to work collaboratively to create a more resilient supply chain”.
ENDS
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Notes to editors
Medicines Supply Resilience Group (MSRG)
The MSRG brings together representatives from all parts of the supply chain, including AAH Pharmaceuticals, Community Pharmacy England (CPE), Healthcare Distribution Association (HDA), Medicines UK, National Pharmacy Association (NPA) and Proprietary Association of Great Britain (PAGB).
The Group is also attended by representatives of the following organisations, who participate in discussions but do not act as decision-makers on MSRG policy positions or endorse the MSRG’s external publications or recommendations:
- Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)
- Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA)
- NHS England
- NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire
The MSRG’s objectives are to:
- Enhance supply chain efficiency, security and resilience.
- Ensuring stable and timely patient access to medicines.
- Support the delivery of NHS and Government Net Zero targets.
- Make recommendations to harness and integrate emerging technology.
The MSRG is currently sponsored by AbbVie, Accord and Viatris.
The MSRG is hosted by the Company Chemists’ Association (CCA), the trade association for multiple pharmacies across Great Britain.
The CCA created this press release on behalf of the MSRG and is responsible for its contents. The following pharmaceutical companies (AbbVie, Accord and Viatris) have sponsored this event but are not involved in the development of this press release.