ADHD: Drugs
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take with the Northern Ireland Executive to help improve the supply of ADHD drugs to Northern Ireland.
Answered by Dr Zubir Ahmed
The Department has overall responsibility for the continuity of medicine supply in the United Kingdom and crown dependences, including shortages management. However, responsibility for managing the impact of shortages is devolved for Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
We regularly share information about higher impact and critical medicine shortages with the devolved administrations to support management of medicine supply issues across the UK.
The Department has made significant progress in improving the availability of medicines for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), working closely with industry and key stakeholders to overcome previous supply challenges. Through intensive collaboration with industry, NHS England, and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, supply issues have now been fully resolved. All ADHD medicines, across all formulations and strengths, are readily available for prescribing.
We continue to work closely with ADHD medicine suppliers to address any challenges promptly and to strengthen the resilience of the supply chain. This includes securing additional stock, expediting deliveries, and broadening the UK supplier base to meet future demand. To ensure a robust and sustainable supply, we are partnering with NHS England’s ADHD taskforce to develop growth forecasts and share them with industry, enabling effective planning and continuity of supply.
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