Chemist crisis: Patients leave empty-handed 3 times a DAY

PHARMACISTS are sending patients home empty-handed several times a day as they do not have enough medication in stock.

As the drugs shortage worsens, three quarters of chemists said they were unable to fulfil prescriptions at least three times per shift, a survey found.

They have reported shortfalls in all major categories of medicines, with hormone replacement therapy, contraceptives and epilepsy pills the worst affected.

Last night, epilepsy experts warned the ‘unacceptable’ shortages were putting patients’ lives at risk.

It came after the Government imposed an unprecedented export ban on 27 types of medicine to protect supplies to the NHS.

Drugs wholesalers have been banned from exporting all types of HRT, as well as contraceptives and adrenaline pens.

It means drugs in short supply will be given to patients in the UK, rather than sold abroad for higher profit.

Thanking the Daily Mail for campaigning on the crisis, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said this week that the measures would help ‘ensure patients get the medicines they need’.

GPs and pharmacists are finding it difficult to cope with worsening shortages, caused by a ‘perfect storm’ of manufacturing problems in the global supply chain.

Almost all types of HRT patches are in short supply, and six in ten pharmacists say they are struggling to get hold of epilepsy medication. One pharmacist said: ‘It’s ludicrous. I compare it to walking into a bakery and on asking for a loaf, the baker says: “Sorry, we are out of bread!”.’

Desperate patients are traipsing around different chemists only to find none have their medication in stock. Some have resorted to taking their prescriptions on holiday with them, in the hope they can get the drugs from foreign pharmacies.

Yesterday, a survey revealed that 75 per cent of pharmacists were unable to supply a medicine as it is out of stock three or more times a day. Some 37 per cent said this happened five or more times a day, according to a poll of more than 400 pharmacy workers by the industry news website Chemist + Druggist.

And a quarter of pharmacy teams said they were not able to find alternative medicine for patients at least once a day.

Last night, experts warned the shortages were putting patients’ lives at risk.

Clare Pelham, head of the Epilepsy Society, said: ‘People with epilepsy are totally dependent on getting the right medication, at the right dose, to control their seizures. It is unacceptable that they do not know, from one prescription to the next, whether their pharmacist will be able to access their medicines. Without the right medication, at the right dose, seizures can increase in severity and frequency. As we know only too well, seizures are not benign events but can be fatal.’

The survey also found that two in five pharmacies spend more than an hour a day dealing with shortages. One pharmacist said they were ‘at breaking point’ and were ‘just about hanging on before we crack under the pressure’.

Professor Helen StokesLampard, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said: ‘Sourcing alternatives in the event of drug shortages can be frustrating and time-consuming for GPs and pharmacists, as well as inconvenient and worrying for patients.’

Have you been affected? Tell us at medicine@dailymail.co.uk

‘At breaking point’