In his letter to pharmaceutical companies ( PDF , 65.9KB, 3 pages) Matt Hancock asks suppliers to:

increase their medicines stocks by at least 6 weeks on top of their usual buffer stocks

ensure plans are in place to air freight products with a short shelf life that cannot be stockpiled

In his letter to suppliers of medical devices and clinical consumables ( PDF , 62.3KB, 2 pages) he says that:

separate contingency plans are being developed

stock holding at a national level will be increased

further information will be provided to industry in September

The Department of Health and Social Care has published additional guidance for the pharmaceutical industry.

Six technical notices relating to health have been published by the government, covering:

unilateral recognition of batch testing of medicine

life sciences IT system

life sciences

tobacco-related products

organs, tissues, cells

blood safety and quality standards

Matt Hancock said: