Provision of medicines supply chain information: supporting ICU medicines supply during COVID-19 response. Phase Two

NHS England & Improvement (NHSE&I) require visibility of the medicines supply chain and national stockholding of priority ICU medicines. Such information supports NHSE&I to allocate and distribute medicines equitably, based on need, to NHS Trusts in England and across the devolved administrations. An understanding of national stock holdings allows us to plan for shortages, manage shortages and engage with industry on areas for priority manufacture. Several medicines are in extremely high demand and the profile of use has changed: COVID-19 treatment requires far higher volumes of certain medicines per patient compared to BAU treatment - primarily due to the length of sedation needed.