Reporting to the National Supply Disruption Response (NSDR)

Information to report to the National Supply Disruption Response (NSDR)

NSDR is intended for suppliers and providers of the following products:

• medicines (prescription-only, pharmacy general sales list and unlicensed medicines)
• medical devices and clinical consumables
• supplies for clinical trials and clinical investigations
• vaccines and countermeasures
• blood, tissue and transplant materials

When you report issues to NSDR we will ask for detailed information to help our teams determine the most appropriate response. This will vary depending on whether you are a supplier or provider reporting disruption, but could include:

• details of the disruption and causes and anticipated duration of disruption
• products affected (including product description, product name and product code) and product characteristics, including any considerations needed for storage conditions or shelf life
• criticality of products for patient care
• potential alternative products available within your range or available from other suppliers
• the likely impact of the disruption
• whether the product is part of a clinical trial or clinical investigation
• healthcare or care providers or patients that could be affected (for the whole of the UK, or by region or country as applicable)
• the phone number and email address that NSDR should use to follow up on an issue – this should include out-of-hours contact details and key responders within your organisations that NSDR teams can engage with

End of transition period arrangements

On 24 December the Prime Minister announced that the UK and EU had agreed a free trade deal based on zero tariffs and zero quotas.

You can read the statement on the deal and also a more detailed explanation of the deal.

NSDR remains operational in order to assist with the response to COVID-19 and, from 21 December 2020, for the end of the transition period.

NSDR is intended for suppliers and providers of the following products:

• medicines (prescription-only, pharmacy general sales list and unlicensed medicines)
• medical devices and clinical consumables
• supplies for clinical trials and clinical investigations
• vaccines and countermeasures
• blood, tissue and transplant materials

This communication does not change the way you report or handle supply issues regarding personal protective equipment (PPE). Supply issues with PPE should continue to be raised in the same way. This is irrespective of the end of transition period contingencies and this communication.

Established systems already exist for responding to serious supply disruption of medical products. In all cases you should continue to use these ‘business as usual’ channels to respond to and resolve issues where possible. Medicine suppliers have a statutory duty to provide early notification of supply disruption to the Department of Health and Social Care and should contact the medicines supply team at: medicinescontingencyplanning@dhsc.gov.uk and DASH@dhsc.gov.uk.team.

If any supply arrangement fails and no immediate resolution is available, you should report it to the NSDR call centre on:

• 0800 915 9964 (freephone number in the UK)
• 0044 (0) 191 283 6543 (direct line from abroad)