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<p>The National Health Service budget will increase by £33.9 billion in cash terms,
the equivalent of £20.5 billion in real terms, by 2023/24, reflecting that the NHS
is this Government’s top spending priority. The additional funding will allow the
NHS to get back on the path to delivering core performance standards. It will also
drive the reforms that deliver a better and more sustainable NHS with improved care
for patients.</p><p> </p><p>In its estimate of the funding required to deliver the
NHS Long Term Plan, the Department has not assumed any change in investment after
the United Kingdom leaves the European Union. The NHS has confirmed the Long Term
Plan is fully costed. The extra funding for the NHS will still apply in all exit scenarios
in order to ensure it is there for the long term.</p><p> </p><p>The UK and EU reached
an agreement to safeguard the rights of people who have built their lives in the UK
and EU, following the UK’s exit from the EU. The agreement will guarantee the rights
of the 167,000 EU nationals working in our health and care system. We have been working
with health and social care employers across the whole of England to ensure their
EU employees are aware of the straightforward and user-friendly EU settlement scheme
which will allow them to secure settled status in the UK and enjoy broadly the same
rights and benefits as they do now.</p><p> </p><p>The Government remains committed
to leaving the EU with a deal. Under the conditions of the Withdrawal Agreement, there
will be a two-year Implementation Period within which the Government will negotiate
the UK’s future relationship with the EU. During the Implementation Period, there
will be no change to the current trading arrangements with the EU and European Economic
Area (EEA), meaning the supply of medicines and medical products will continue unhindered.</p><p>
</p><p>However, as a responsible Government, we are preparing for all exit scenarios,
including the possibility that the UK leaves the EU without a deal. The Department
is enquiring with parties across Government and industry to ensure continuity of medicines
supply for patients is maintained. We asked industry to stockpile an additional six
weeks’ supply of prescription-only and pharmacy medicines which come to the UK from
or via the EU/EEA, over and above usual buffer stocks.</p><p> </p><p>The Government
is working to ensure that there is sufficient roll-on, roll-off freight capacity to
enable these vital products to continue to move freely in to the UK in a ‘no deal’
scenario. The Department is working closely with the Department for Transport to ensure
all medicines and medical products are prioritised on these alternative routes to
ensure that the flow of all these products will continue unimpeded after 29 March
2019.</p><p> </p><p>On 7 December 2018, the Department wrote to pharmaceutical companies
that supply licensed medicines to the UK from or via the EU/EEA, and/or manufacture
medicines in the UK, informing them of the updated reasonable worst-case scenario
border disruption planning assumptions and asking them about their current transportation
routes and their ability to re-route their supply chains if they currently rely on
Dover and/or Folkestone. Since then we have been working closely with those companies
to better understand their supply chains and the potential for rerouting in a ‘no
deal’ scenario.</p>
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