The health secretary has said that the Government is building extra 'refrigeration capacity' in case a no-deal Brexit leaves the UK short of certain medicines.

Speaking to ITV’s Peston show, Matt Hancock urged patients not to stockpile medicines, and said the Government is working with the pharmaceutical industry to ensure patients are able to obtain necessary medication.

It is feared that potential increased customs checks resulting from a no-deal Brexit will lead to delays in medicines - including insulin - being imported from Europe.
Mr Hancock sought to allay these concerns. He said: 'Even though yes we think that we will get a deal and I’m confident we will get a deal, we are making sure that we have more refrigerated capacity for medicines.

'It’s very important that people don’t go out of their way to have bigger personal stores because the NHS will be supplying unhindered flows of medicines to people in any scenario. That is our clear goal and we are working with the pharmaceutical industry to reach it.'

The issue of insufficient cold-chain storage for certain drugs was first mooted last month, when UK wholesalers informed Mr Hancock that producing enough of this could take up to a year.

A version of this article originally appeared on our sister publication Pulse