Most pharmacy teams in England are battling medicine shortages on a daily basis, a survey of thousands of staff suggests.
Some 72% of pharmacy staff told the industry body Community Pharmacy England they ran into unavailable drugs multiple times a day. Almost all (99%) experienced supply issues at least once a week.
And the vast majority — 79% — said shortages are putting patient’s health at risk.
CPE surveyed 6,100 pharmacy owners and 2,000 other pharmacy staff as part of a review into the impact of medicine supply pressures.
Around 91% of pharmacy owners told the organisation that drug supply problems had gotten worse over the last year.
Concerningly, many anxious patients are letting their stress out on pharmacists themselves, the survey revealed.
Almost all pharmacy staff (97%) said they’d experienced ‘frustration’ from patients unable to get prescriptions filled, while 84% said they’d faced ‘aggression.’
‘Powerless’ In The Face of Global Issues
“The medicine supply challenges are beyond critical. For pharmacies, ensuring everyone can access the medicines they need has become an ongoing battle, putting immense pressures on pharmacy teams and businesses,” said CPE chief executive Janet Morrison.
Global demand for numerous drugs is outstripping availability in a market hit hard by supply chain issues.
Pharmacies were “powerless” in the face of these national and international pressures, she added in a statement.
“Medicines shortages are disrupting treatment for some patients and destabilizing their health,” said Royal Pharmaceutical Society director for England, James Davies, per The Guardian.
Drug companies needed to work more closely with the government and the country’s public health system to bolster the country’s supplies, he said.
Lingering Impact of Brexit
While medicines shortages are a global phenomenon, Brexit may have left the U.K. particularly vulnerable, according to a recent report from leading health think tank, Nuffield Trust.
The organisation’s Brexit Programme Lead, Mark Dayan, said last month that extra friction at U.K. borders could exacerbate a “shocking” rise in shortages.
“We know many of the problems are global and relate to fragile chains of imports from Asia, squeezed by Covid-19 shutdowns, inflation and global instability,” he said in a statement.
The government has responded to shortages by monitoring drugs much more closely and shelling out extra cash to “try to keep products flowing.”
“But exiting the EU has left the UK with several additional problems,” he added. “Products no longer flow as smoothly across the borders with the EU, and in the long term our struggles to approve as many medicines might mean we have fewer alternatives available.”
Insulin products and asthma drugs
At the moment, ADHD medicines, hormone replacement therapy, certain asthma drugs and even some insulin products are all in short supply in the U.K.
Vials of certain Eli Lilly insulins (lispro and human insulin) are facing issues, as are pre-filled FlexTouch Tresiba (degludec) and Fiasp (aspart) pens from Novo Nordisk.
But it’s not the insulin itself that’s unavailable, with the plastic used in Novo Nordisk’s pens facing supply issues, according to national charity Diabetes U.K. Alternative containers like cartridges are available.
Ongoing shortages of another Novo Nordisk diabetes product — its blockbuster Ozempic pens — are also expected to last for months.
Earlier this year, British police announced they were cracking down on black market sales of the drug, which is often used off-label for weight loss.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said in a statement: “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.”
