The majority of medicines are dispensed in England every day without issue, with over two million prescription items dispensed each day. However, the production of medicines is complex and highly regulated, and materials and processes must meet rigorous safety and quality standards. Supply problems can affect a wide range of drugs and can arise for various reasons, such as manufacturing issues, problems with the raw ingredients and batch failures. The Department has well established processes to manage and mitigate supply problems that may arise at any one time and works closely with the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority (MHRA), the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England and NHS Improvement and others operating in the supply chain, to help prevent shortages and to ensure that the risks to patients are minimised when they do arise. Where issues do arise, the Department will use a host of tools which might include working with the MHRA to expedite regulatory procedures, working with manufacturers to manage remaining supplies and expedite the delivery of further stock and commissioning clinical advice on alternative options from specialist clinicians. Furthermore, the team routinely works with specialist importer companies to obtain unlicensed products from abroad to help to manage supply issues affecting the National Health Service. Occasionally the team will work with wholesalers and suppliers to put demand management processes in place to ensure the equitable distribution of stock throughout the country as this ensures the NHS can continue to access the medicines it requires.