DAILY drug shortages are placing “frustrated” patients at risk, health bosses warn.
They are increasingly leaving pharmacies empty-handed when medicine is unavailable and alternatives cannot be given.
The crisis has seen tempers flare as the sick are forced to go back to their doctor for a new prescription.
Nick Kaye, chairman of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), said: « It is madness to send someone back to their GP and it risks a patient either delaying taking vital medication or forgoing it altogether, which poses a clear risk to patient safety.
« Pharmacies are at the sharp end of medicines shortages and frequently have to turn away distressed, frustrated and sometimes angry patients.”
As the struggle to book routine GP appointments intensifies, pharmacies have been handed greater responsibility to treat the poorly on the high street.
But the NPA, which represents 6,000 independent community businesses, said the Government must urgently grant much greater flexibility allowing them to substitute medication when it is safe to do so.
It says pharmacies are unable to dispense prescriptions at least once a day.
Patients must currently go back to their GP for a new prescription if the item or dose they have been prescribed is out of stock.
The only exception is in limited circumstances when a Serious Shortage Protocol has been issued by the NHS.
In January, Lancashire coroner Christopher Long wrote to Health Secretary Wes Streeting after the death of two-year-old Ava Hodgkinson.
He told how she died of overwhelming sepsis from a strep A infection after delays in receiving antibiotics due to restrictions preventing a pharmacist from amending an out-of-stock prescription.
Mr Long wrote: « Ava had seen her GP who had prescribed amoxicillin with a dose of 250mg/5ml.
« The pharmacy did not have this strength in stock but did have amoxicillin 125mg/5ml in stock.
« (They) could not issue this as restrictions currently in place prevent a pharmacist issuing any different strength of medication without an amended prescription, even where the medication can be provided to enable the same dose to be administered (here Ava’s parents could have been instructed to provide 10ml enabling the same dose of antibiotics to be provided).
« This led to a delay in Ava receiving antibiotics. »
Two years ago the Express reported how a surge in respiratory infections saw manufacturers struggle to keep up with demand sparking shortages in antibiotics like Amoxicillin, a first-line treatment for bacterial infections.
As rampant winter illnesses caused havoc supermarket shelves were also cleared of common drugs like paracetamol, ibuprofen and seasonal medicines like powdered cough and cold remedies as patients battled to treat symptoms of Covid, flu, Strep-A and RSV.
It prompted one unnamed patient to claim: “I’ve started buying prescription drugs illegally on the dark web using Bitcoin because it’s easier than getting an appointment with my GP. I know this isn’t particularly funny or entertaining but it is true.”
An NPA poll of 500 pharmacies found all were unable to dispense a prescription at least once a day due to supply issues.
Almost all also reported patients coming in at least once a day in the hope of finding medicines they had failed to obtain elsewhere.
Worryingly, some 96% of pharmacies said they were unable to dispense a prescription at least once a day, despite having a safe alternative formulation in stock.
The NPA said the rules must change, and quickly, adding it believes any changes being currently considered by the Government are too limited in scope.
Mr Kaye added: said: « These are deeply concerning statistics which show patients are potentially having to forgo vital medication due to shortages.
« It is particularly frustrating for pharmacists to be unable to meet a clear need when they have a perfectly safe and effective solution in their pharmacy already.
“The Government must look again at allowing pharmacists – who are highly trained healthcare practitioners – to use their professional judgment to supply an appropriate alternative when the prescribed version is unavailable. »
Latest figures show that in 2022/23 there were 1.18 billion prescription items dispensed on the NHS in England at a cost of £10.4 billion. The number of items increased by 3% on the previous year, while costs increased by 8%. The most dispensed item was the cholesterol-busting drug Atorvastatin, issued 59 million times.
The Department of Health and Social Care said: « Community pharmacies have a vital role to play as we shift focus of healthcare out of hospitals and into the community as part of our Plan for Change.
« We will work with the sector, making better use of the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, to build a service fit for the future.
« The Government is currently considering enabling pharmacists to substitute to a different dose or formulation, under specified circumstances, where such a substitution might be both urgent and safe. »
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