Guidance

Reporting to the National Supply Disruption Response (NSDR)

Information on how to request assistance from NSDR.

From:
Department of Health and Social Care
Published
31 December 2020
Last updated
5 February 2024 — See all updates

How to request assistance from the National Supply Disruption Response

The National Supply Disruption Response (NSDR) acts as a single point of contact when a health or care provider, supplier or research body has exhausted all other options available to them to maintain supply of the following products to the UK:

  • 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
  • non-clinical goods and services

It is a UK-wide service and works closely with governments and health and care services in the devolved administrations, Crown dependencies and British oversees territories.

Established systems already exist for responding to serious supply disruption of medical products. You should employ these ‘business as usual’ channels to respond to and resolve issues before contacting NSDR.

Medicine suppliers have a statutory duty to provide early notification of supply disruption to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). They should contact the medicines supply team at medicinescontingencyplanning@dhsc.gov.uk and dash@dhsc.gov.uk.

If a supply arrangement fails and no immediate resolution is available via business as usual channels, then you should request assistance from the NSDR call centre (open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm except public holidays) on:

  • 0800 915 9964 (freephone number in the UK)
  • +44 (0)207 972 1071 (direct line from abroad)

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 provider, supplier or research body reporting disruption, but could include:

  • details of the disruption, 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, 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

Any organisation or company that reports a supply disruption to NSDR is classed as the ‘originator’ and will be kept informed of case investigation and management progress for the duration of the disruption.

Express Freight Service

NSDR has access to the Express Freight Service (EFS), which helps to ensure the continuity of medicines and medical supplies should a supplier’s own logistical arrangements be disrupted.

The service aims to collect and deliver small parcels within 24 to 48 hours and pallets or shipments within 2 to 4 working days, with specialised products with a controlled or regulated handling requirement fast-tracked within 24 hours.

Suppliers are responsible for payment of carriage and are required to be registered before they can access the service.

Register with the Express Freight Service.

Updates to this page

Published 31 December 2020
Last updated 5 February 2024 + show all updates

  1. Amended the opening times of the National Supply Disruption Response (NSDR) call centre to 9am to 5pm (previously it was 9am to 6pm).

  2. Updated Express Freight Service registration link as DHSC has switched to a new provider.

  3. Updated language used from 'how to report' to 'how to request assistance' to describe the service more accurately.

  4. Updated contact details for the service and clarified steps to take when contacting the service. Added information on the Express Freight Service (EFS).

  5. Updated to remove reference to the transition period and other out-of-date content.

  6. Removed reference to '24/7' from the NSDR call centre.

  7. First published.

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