Health Secretary Sajid Javid has ordered the NHS to stop using Russian and Belarussian suppliers.
Almost two weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, the Health Secretary told NHS providers to exit contracts that involved the two nations "as soon as possible".
In a letter to NHS providers seen by the Health Service Journal, Mr Javid told them to "undertake an urgent review of supply chains and identify contractual relationships you have with Russian and Belarussian suppliers."
He added: "Make plans to exit those contracts as soon as possible, within the terms of those contracts."
Officials are understood to be concerned that exiting contracts early could leave them with financial costs.
Mr Javid did not offer support to deal with the incurred costs and instead urged officials to consider their options carefully.
It comes days after Mr Javid demanded the NHS stop using energy supplied by Russian-owned firm Gazprom.
More than a dozen NHS trusts are thought to be supplied by Gazprom, alongside several local councils.
Lord Simon Stevens, former head of NHS England, previously told the House of Lords “decarbonising the health sector will take pound notes out of the hands of dictatorial regimes that are engaged in acts of aggression”.
And Jeremy Hunt, former health secretary tweeted: “It’s clearly unsustainable for a humanitarian organisation like the NHS to have any commercial links whatsoever with [Vladimir] Putin’s murderous regime.”
Yesterday Boris Johnson said Western countries will need to wean themselves off Russian hydrocarbons with a "step by step" approach.
Speaking at a Downing Street press conference with the prime ministers of Canada and the Netherlands, Mr Johnson said ministers were looking at the possibility of using more oil and gas from British sources.
The PM slammed Putin’s tactics in Ukraine as “repugnant” and said additional sanctions would follow.
