The firm behind the KFC chicken delivery crisis has been awarded a contract to help the NHS in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

Theresa May has been accused of ‘putting lives at risk’ in a ‘bargain bucket deal’ with DHL.

The health service is expecting shortages of key medicines if we crash out of the bloc on March 29.

KFC had to close hundreds of restaurants last year because of a shortage of chicken (Picture: Getty)

In preparation, ministers are setting up a logistics hub in Belgium where vital medical supplies can be stockpiled and then ferried into the UK.


DHL will be part of that logistics process, just a year after they failed to deliver chicken to KFC restaurants up and down the country.



Hundreds of branches were forced to close in February last year and the chain eventually returned to its old delivery contractor.

Today at Prime Minister’s Questions, Green Party MP Caroline Lucas asked Theresa May whether she could guarantee that people would get their vital medicines.

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‘This government has decided that the imports of medical supplies are to be handled by the same company that forced hundreds of restaurants to close because it was incapable of delivering chicken to KFC,’ she said.

‘It is literally horrifying that the Prime Minister’s stubbornness is literally putting people’s lives at risk through bargain bucket supply deals.

‘What guarantee can she give to patients watching us now, looking at this pantomime and farce in this House?

‘What guarantee can she give that they will be able to get their vital medicines when they need them in the event of a no deal?’

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The Government is making extensive preparations for medical supplies to be shipped over on seven new ferry routes.

The hope is they will manage to bypass the chaos that is widely expected in and around Dover in the event of no deal.

There will be a major logistics hub in Belgium where life-saving medicines and equipment, including cancer drugs, stents and implants, will be stored.

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They will then be transported to ferry companies based in the Netherlands, Germany and France.

From there, they will go across the Channel to British ports in Dorset, Hampshire, Kent and Lincolnshire.

Daily flights from the Netherlands are also expected to bring in items that hospitals, care homes and GP surgeries need.

The medicines are likely to have to operate on a 24 to 72 hour time frame because of the need for refrigeration.

The NHS has warned against a no deal Brexit because of the disruption to the supply of drugs and equipment (Picture: Getty)

The deal comes after the Government was forced to cancel a £13.8 million deal with Seaborne Freight to carry goods from mainland Europe because the firm had no ferries.

Ms Lucas added: ‘Has the Government not learnt anything from its blundering decision to hand a ferry contract to a company with no ferries?

‘Instead of risking shortages of critical medicines, the Government must rule out a disastrous no deal Brexit and accept the need to extend Article 50.’



Mrs May replied to Ms Lucas in Westminster and said the public had no need to stockpile medicines.

She added that the only way to prevent a no deal Brexit was for politicians to get behind her plan and vote it through the Commons on March 12.

The Department of Health has stood by their decision to award the contract to DHL, calling them ‘one of the biggest logistics companies in the world.’

They added that they had provided services to the NHS since 2006.

In a statement, DHL told Metro.co.uk: ‘DHL Supply Chain has successfully managed the NHS Supply Chain business for the past 12 years, delivering market leading productivity, safety and quality, while consistently surpassing customer targets.

‘We have an inherent understanding of the handling required to facilitate this new contract and have partnered with our wider group encompassing Express, Freight and Global Forwarding, who are all market leaders in their respective fields, to ensure successful delivery.’

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