Engagement Needed on Human Medicine Regulations – Robin Swann MP

Former Health Minister Robin Swann MP has secured assurances from Department for Health and Social Care that health professional and officials in Northern Ireland will be consulted in the role out of the Human Medicines Regulations.

In a recently legislative committee meeting which considered the Regulations, the South Antrim MP highlighted the fact medicine regulation differs between Northern Ireland and Great Britain:

“The regulation of medicines is a reserved matter for England, Wales and Scotland, but a devolved matter for Northern Ireland. The amendments aim to enable the same opportunities for hub and spoke provision across the whole of the Union, and as a former Northern Ireland Health Minister, I welcome that step. When I was Minister, I published and stood over the Northern Ireland Community Pharmacy Strategic Plan 2030, which aimed to maintain and modernise systems for the safe and reliable supply of medicines and professional advice from community pharmacies.”

Mr Swann raised concerns regarding key aspects of the regulations and the need for consultation with Health officials in Northern Ireland. Mr Swann said that aspects of the legislation has:

“the potential to undermine the relationship between pharmacies and patients, as well as the risks in sharing accountability for the supply of medicines and risks to patient safety. Although the spoke and hub model covers the supply of medicines, there is a danger of losing the professional advice that community pharmacists can supply to patients, which takes pressure off our health service and others. Before there is any further progress on model 2 [of the Regulations], which will be a devolved issue in Northern Ireland, will there be further engagement with the Minister of Health in Northern Ireland, the chief pharmaceutical officer and community pharmacy representative organisations?"

Health minister Stephen Kinnock MP offer assurances to Mr Swann that this engagement will take place:

“We have had excellent engagement with his colleagues in the Northern Irish Government. He has my absolute, 100% assurance that we will continue that engagement and, given the time available, which I set out in my speech, we will ensure that all nations are able to take this legislation on board and make the necessary changes in a way that works for devolution and for the entire system across the UK.”