Speaking at the recent G7 summit, Boris Johnson reportedly said that the medicines and one innovative cancer treatment had been denied to patients because of the way regulations that were being phased in around the border were affecting the movement of goods, according to the Sunday Times.

“If the protocol continues to be applied in this way, then we will obviously not hesitate to invoke article 16,” he reportedly said during the summit.

Article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol enables either the UK or the EU to take unilateral action if the implementation of the agreement gives rise to adverse consequences for one party or the other.

C+D understands that the government is aware of the supply issues, but could not share which medicines were unavailable, as the information is “commercially sensitive”.

A UK government spokesperson told C+D: “The people of Northern Ireland must have the same access to the full range of medicines as other parts of the UK and the [Northern Ireland] protocol should not prevent this.

“We have proposed bespoke arrangements that would enable medicines to move from or through Great Britain into Northern Ireland without the need for expensive and burdensome re-testing.

“Solutions must be found urgently to address [the border issues] and others and we await a response to our proposals from the EU in writing,” the spokesperson added.