Sunday shows round-up: NHS preparing for a no deal Brexit

Simon Stevens: the NHS is making ‘significant preparations’ for no deal Brexit

This morning Andrew Marr sat down for an interview with the Chief Executive of NHS England. With the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the NHS approaching this week, Marr asked Simon Stevens about the implications of a no deal Brexit on the health service, and whether he was making appropriate preparations for such an event:

“There is now significant planning going on around all the scenarios," says @NHSEngland Boss Simon Stevens, including a no-deal scenario to ensure that medical supplies are not disrupted #marr pic.twitter.com/Io5yPctoX8

— The Andrew Marr Show (@MarrShow) July 1, 2018

AM: …When you were talking to MPs last autumn, you said that you hadn’t been asked by government to plan for no deal. Has that changed?

SS: There is now significant planning going on around all the scenarios, including medicine supply scenarios…

AM: Really? Because I think something like 370 million packs of medicine come in every month from the EU to the UK… You can guarantee to people… that those items will carry on being available in NHS hospitals?

SS: I think nobody is in any doubt whatsoever… in terms of ensuring continued supplies for all the things that we need in this country, at the top of the list has got to be those medical supplies.