Pharmacists say they are struggling to obtain many common medicines and paying “vastly increased” prices for them. This is leaving patients complaining of delays in getting hold of drugs such as pain killers, anti-depressants and blood pressure medication. There are 80 medicines in such short supply that the Department of Health has agreed to pay a premium for them, this is up from 45 in October.
There is a number of reasons why the shortage has happened but there are now concerns that uncertainty over Brexit will only make the shortage worse. The Royal Pharmaceutical Society said there was “a massive shortage and price spikes”.
Most patients should able to get their prescription filled as normal, but some people may not be so lucky if they need one of the drugs that is currently running short. Some pharmacists are sending patients back to their GPs to ask to ask for a different medicine or dosage. Others are giving as much of a drug as they can to spare and spending people away with IOU notes for the remainder. It is always possible to come up with an alternative, but it can be more difficult with conditions like epilepsy where patients need to be on specific drugs.
Ash Soni, president of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, says he has never seen so many common drugs affected by shortages
He added: “The items are out of stock and unavailable. Patients are having to wait.
“We’re having to send some patients back to the GP to get a different prescription, because we just can’t fill them.”
On December 2018’s concession list 28 drugs were among the 500 most commonly prescribed. Some places have been “completely out of stock” of the drug naproxen which is an anti-inflammatory.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We continue to work closely with industry and partners to ensure patients receive the medicines they need and pharmacies are reimbursed fairly.”
Industry figures all stress that there is no single answer to explain such a complicated situation. However, there are some suggested reasons why there are shortages, these are:
- fluctuations in exchange rates
- generic companies being unwilling to carry on selling unprofitable products.
- increased global demand
- cost of raw materials
- new regulatory requirements driving up costs
The government has told manufacturers of both branded and generic drugs to stockpile six weeks’ worth of supplies so that people will still get their medications if there is a no-deal Brexit. Hospitals, distributors and patients have been told not to stockpile their own supplies. Generic shortages started rising in 2017 so it is not possible to say that the issue is caused by being close to Brexit.
Former Liberal Democrat MP Sandra Gidley, a pharmacist who is chairwoman of the English Pharmacy Board at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said “Shortages have been a problem for some years. It’s a fluctuating problem. They are now worse than ever.
“The situation with Brexit is that the government have recognised that there could be potential supply problems and they have been asking manufacturers to keep in a buffer stock so that if there are freight problems, trouble with customs, patients will still get their drugs.
“Unfortunately what’s been happening on social media over Christmas is that people have been putting two and two together and assuming this is because of Brexit. The pharmaceutical supply chain is a very, very complex subject. There are global issues at play here.”
