Labour will today (Tuesday 6 March) pledge to protect NHS patients’
access to medicines after Brexit by announcing a Labour government
will seek to remain part of the European Medicines Agency.
The pledge will form part of Labour’s consistent approach to
Brexit, building on Labour’s 2017 manifesto commitment to “seek
to maintain membership of (or equivalent relationships with)
European organisations which offer benefits to the UK.”
, the Shadow Health
Secretary, in a speech today in Brussels will
announce plans to put patients first in Labour’s approach to
the NHS and Brexit by:
· Seeking to
remain part of the European Medicine Agency because it
serves our national interests and the interests of the EU27.
· Protecting the
NHS workforce by guaranteeing the rights and status of
existing EEA nationals but also ensuring our NHS and care sector
can recruit the staff needed in the future.
· Prioritising
the negotiation of continued access to existing EU reciprocal
healthcare schemes, or the creation of comparable alternatives.
· Seeking to stay
part of the Horizon 2020 agreement on research funding and its
successor programmes and welcoming research staff to the UK.
Ashworth will highlight a string of evidence about the importance
for UK patients of close cooperation with Europe on medicine
regulation:
· The average lag
of submission of new medicine marketing authorisations after
the UK leaves the EU could be 2–3 months and some products may
never be marketed in the UK
· Every month, 45
million packs of medicine move from the UK to the EU, with 37
million packs going from the EU to the UK.
· Half of the
UK’s medicines exports go to France, Germany and the Netherlands.
· Switzerland,
which is not in the EMA, gains access to new medicines on
average 157 days later than the EU.
· The UK has the
highest number of phase 1 clinical trials across the EU with the
highest number of trials across the EU for rare and childhood
diseases.
MP, Labour’s Shadow
Health Secretary, announcing plans to put patients
first in Labour’s approach to the NHS and Brexit, will
say:
“Given the scale of trade between the UK and the EU on medicines,
but perhaps more fundamentally given disease knows no borders it
would be great folly to dismiss the huge benefits that the UK and
the EU 27 have gained from our close relationship over the past
forty years.
“It is utterly unacceptable to put patient safety at risk because
of lack of certainty about medicine regulation post
Brexit. Slow progress on reaching a deal could mean
delays accessing potentially life-saving treatments, harming
patient and public health in both the UK and EU.
“Labour will not sign off on a Brexit deal that turns the clock
back on medical innovation or sees patients in the UK having to
wait longer to get access to life-changing treatments. It is a
red line for me and it is red line for the .
“That is why I can confirm today that a Labour Government would
seek to continue to be a part of the European Medicine
Agency and adhere to the EU regulatory framework on the
authorisation and conduct of clinical trials, because it
serves our national interests, the interests of the EU27 and
most importantly it serves patients’ interests.
“We would not put ideological red lines before the nation’s
health. We are leaving the European Union, but that does not
mean we should not remain partners in those areas that are in our
shared interests.”
On workforce, Ashworth will say:
“The NHS would not function effectively if it was not for the
thousands of European nationals who work in it. They treat our
friends, care for our families and cure our loved ones seven days
a week, 365 days a year.
“We owe each and every one of them a huge debt of gratitude and,
as we go through these difficult negotiations, we must never
forget that. Our NHS is absolutely reliant on these staff. And if
they left the NHS, the workforce crisis our NHS currently faces
would become a catastrophe.
“Labour will offer EU nationals certainty. We would start on
the principles of fair rules, the reasonable management of
migration and recognition of the contribution nationals from
across the world play in our public services.
“That means both guaranteeing the rights and status of existing
EEA nationals but also ensuring our NHS and care sector can
recruit the staff needed to care for our sick and elderly now and
in the future.”
