‘BEYOND CRITICAL’ SHORTAGES OF MEDICINE IN ENGLAND LEAD TO FRUSTRATION AND ANXIETY

Thu 09 May 2024:

An NHS medicine shortages in England ‘beyond critical’, pharmacists have warned. A survey has revealed challenges faced by pharmacists and risk of harm to patients as key drugs from the NHS are unavailable across the country, The Guardian reported.

The situation is so serious that pharmacists increasingly have to issue “owings” to patients, the Community Pharmacy England (CPE) report found. “The medicine supply challenges being faced by community pharmacies and their patients are beyond critical,” said Janet Morrison, CPE’s chief executive.

“Patients with a wide range of clinical and therapeutic needs are being affected on a daily basis and this is going far beyond inconvenience, leading to frustration, anxiety and affecting their health. For some patients not having access to the medicines they need could lead to very serious consequences, even leaving them needing to visit A&E.

“Medicines shortages are leading to delays in patients being able to access certain critical or potentially life-saving medicines in a timely manner.” Drugs in short supply include insulin, asthma drugs, adrenaline, antibiotics, HRT, ADHD and epilepsy medicines.

CPE, which represents England’s 10,500 community pharmacies, based its findings on a survey of the views of owners of 6,100 pharmacy premises and 2,000 of their staff. It found:

• 79% of pharmacy staff said that medicine shortages were putting patient health at risk.

• 91% of pharmacy owners had seen a “significant increase” in the problem since last year.

• 99% of pharmacy workers found a drug was unavailable at least weekly, and 72% encountered that several times a day.

Other drugs short include insulin, which Type 1 diabetics need to take, and salbutamol, which is used to tackle serious breathing problems experienced by asthma patients. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “There are around 14,000 licensed medicines and the overwhelming majority are in good supply. Supply issues can arise for a wide range of reasons and are not specific to the UK.”

Frustration and anger

Pharmacists are finding themselves on the receiving end of abuse and hostility from patients who are frustrated and angered by not being able to get the drugs they have been prescribed.

“Most people are very understanding, but they are worried and frightened, and inevitably sometimes that boils over and we have people taking it out on us,” said Fin McCaul, the owner of an independent community pharmacy in Greater Manchester.

“We have had patients being annoyed and angry, and occasions of people spitting at us. I regularly have staff in tears by the end of the day because of the sheer pressure of it all,” McCaul added.

Overall, 84% of pharmacy staff have experienced aggression from patients, CPE announced.

Experts said global supply and manufacturing problems were contributing to drugs being unavailable. But, Morrison added, “Low prices of medicines has made the UK a less attractive market for manufacturers and this is contributing to the reduction in supply chain resilience.”

In a major report last month the Nuffield Trust thinktank warned that drug shortages had become a “new normal” and were being worsened by Brexit.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

______________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

WhatsApp CHANNEL
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAtNxX8fewmiFmN7N22