NHS patients face worst drug shortages on record, say pharmacists and GPs

One patient spoke of the panic of being ‘on the phone for hours … driving around’ to visit pharmacies. Photograph: Matthew Horwood/Alamy View image in fullscreen One patient spoke of the panic of being ‘on the phone for hours … driving around’ to visit pharmacies. Photograph: Matthew Horwood/Alamy NHS patients face worst drug shortages on record, say pharmacists and GPs Supply problems pose risk to health, with common painkillers, epilepsy medication and HRT affected Britons are facing some of the “most severe” shortages of NHS medicines on record including common painkillers, epilepsy drugs and HRT, health leaders have warned, even forcing some patients with impaired digestive systems to skip meals. The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has warned that medicine shortages pose a “serious risk to patient safety”. The Royal College of GPs has also raised concerns about the impact medicine shortages have on patients, GPs and pharmacists. Both have highlighted long-lasting supply issues affecting Estradot, a hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for menopausal women, and Creon, a drug taken by people with pancreatic cancer and cystic fibrosis to help them digest food. Both medications have had serious shortage protocols (SSPs) in place for between one-and-a-half (Estradot) and two years (Creon) – a new NHS record – and SSPs were recently extended by the NHS until 10 July. SSPs were introduced by the Department of Health as an emergency short-term measure to manage shortages. Pharmacies say this is forcing some patients to ration medication and, in some instances, even skip meals because they have been unable to obtain supplies. Bryony Thomas, 48, from Stroud, Gloucestershire, describes herself as a pancreatic cancer survivor. Along with other survivors, she expects to rely on Creon for the rest of her life because her pancreas does not produce the enzymes to digest food. She said she had been affected by the shortages for the past two years and has had to ration the drug, most recently nine months ago. She would still be rationing, she added, were she not able to share medication with others through patient groups on social media. View image in fullscreen Bryony Thomas, pancreatic cancer survivor, says she has had to ration her medication. “There was a three-month window where I couldn’t get hold of my enzymes [Creon], so I had to reduce what I was eating. You’d have a much smaller meal, you eat less protein, you eat less fat,” Thomas said. “If I get anything down to under a month [of supply] I start to panic.” Her mother-in-law has also been making four-hour round trips to get her medication from the only pharmacy, in Crewe, Cheshire, where it is available. Thomas is calling for a central distribution mechanism to pool Creon supplies left by patients who have died. At the moment, those stocks are destroyed. “It’s really stressful; you’re on the phone for just hours, you’re driving around [to visit pharmacies], and all the patients are having to do thi