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COVID19 INFORMATION FOR MEMBERS
Clearly in vitro diagnostic tests are a critical part of the management of this outbreak of COVID-19 and the IVD industry will be supporting the UK public health authorities and the NHS to ensure there is appropriate testing for our population. Links to advice for businesses and individuals can be found at the Gov.uk website here and are regularly updated as soon as information is available.
Members can find supporting materials for key workers going about their duties here.
Members can find key information from the MHRA about placing testing kits for COVID_19 on the market here.
Further information for suppliers or potential suppliers can be found here.
Details of the NHS's pandemic preparedness programme can be found here.
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Update from DHSC’s Continuity of Supply team on novel coronavirus: The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has circulated a letter from Chief Commercial Office Steve Oldfield that outlines measures being taken by the Government in response to the impact of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak on the supply of medical goods to the UK. DHSC is currently undertaking one-to-one engagement with suppliers that have been identified as having supply chain touchpoints in China.
The letter requests suppliers to undertake a full risk assessment of the impact of the situation on their supply chains and inform DHSC of the outcomes. Suppliers who retain some or all of their EU exit contingency stockpile should hold on to this and suppliers should continue to fulfill NHS orders in the normal way. Please get in touch with the DHSC Medical Devices and Clinical Consumables (MDCC) team if you have any questions.
BREXIT Contingency Planning Enquiries
With the UK now out of the European Union and into the transition period, please see this letter from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) which outlines the standing down of their Continuity of Supply planning. For more details on what the transition period means for business, see here.
No deal Brexit: briefing and webinars for the IVD sector
As part of the Government’s no deal planning preparations, we have been asked to digest official advice to draw together the relevant sections for the IVD sector. The first part of this work is a briefing which we have developed, with the support of Incisive Health, which sets out details on the following areas of no-deal planning:
- Regulations of IVDs
- Preparing your business
- Public sector procurement
- Changes to customs authorisation
- Intellectual property
- Trademarks and designs
- Horizon 2020 funding
- Employing EU citizens
- Using personal data
Webinar recordings and Q&A document
Many thanks to everyone who participated in one of our two Brexit Business Readiness webinars. If you were unable to join or would like to revisit one of the two sessions, you can find the recordings here. You can also find a Q&A document, created taking into account points raised and discussed during the webinars and if you did take part, please take the time to fill out this short survey.