‘I’m a pharmacist – drug shortages could prove fatal for patients’

Patients lives are being put at risk by the UK’s growing medicine supply crisis, a pharmacist has warned.

Research has revealed pharmacies are unable to supply some patients with vital medications on a daily basis, forcing them to turn away patients without – what is in some cases – life-saving treatment.

The survey of 500 UK pharmacies by the National Pharmacy Association found 100 per cent of pharmacies said they were unable to dispense a prescription at least once a day due to supply problems.

Ninety-five per cent said patients come to their pharmacy at least once a day to get medicines that they had failed to obtain elsewhere due to supply issues.

Pharmacist Olivier Picard, who owns Newdays Pharmacy, which has four branches in Berkshire, told The i Paper over the past few years, the number of medicines in short supply has increased at “an enormous rate“.

Mr Picard, a pharmacist for over 25 years, said: “There is not a day that goes by without me having to either turn people away or me having to send back patient to their surgery in order for them to get a replacement for something that I cannot get.”

Under current regulations, pharmacists cannot supply patients with a substitute medication if a drug on their prescription is unavailable, even if they have different strengths of the same medication in stock, unless a Serious Shortage Protocol is in place.

The NPA survey found 96 per cent of pharmacies were unable to dispense a prescription at least once a day despite having a safe alternative formulation in stock. 

Mr Picard said a few months ago when blood thinner Apixaban, prescribed to people to prevent blood clots, was out of stock, he had concerns about patient safety.

“If that person can’t get their blood thinners, then the chances of suffering a heart attack or a stroke and therefore having either a life-threatening condition or severe disability as a result of a stroke, for example, or heart attack, is incredible,” he said.

Mr Picard said he has also had to explain to patients with epilepsy that he cannot supply them with medication because of shortages.

Various epilepsy medications, including carbamazepine and lamotrigine, have been affected by supply issues over recent years. People living with epilepsy have told The i Paper, they live in fear of fatal seizures as a result.

Mr Picard said he finds it “heartbreaking” when he cannot supply a patient with the medication they need.

“It causes delay in patient accessing medication, and unfortunately, it’s putting lives at risk because some of those medications – they’re not chocolate bars, you know – they are life-saving medications,” he added.

“I do worry, especially when it’s people with severe or extreme conditions, such as epilepsy, such as diabetes. If you don’t get insulin to a diabetic, because you can’t get it, then that patient could end up in hospital, could end up with a life-threatening illness. And that’s not why I went into the profession.”

The NPA has warned that the current situation puts patients’ health at serious risk.

Nick Kaye, chair of the 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.”

He added that the Government “must look again at allowing pharmacists – who are highly trained health care practitioners – to use their professional judgment to supply an appropriate alternative when the prescribed version is unavailable”.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson 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.”