Prescriptions could be held up, warn chemists

PATIENTS face delays with prescriptions and shortages of over-thecounter drugs due to a lack of van drivers, pharmacists have warned.

Chemists say some orders are arriving late or not at all and the problem is likely to get worse as winter illnesses drive up demand.

Martin Hewitson, who runs a pharmacy in Dorset, told the Sunday Telegraph: ‘Once, twice, three times a week we are having disruption to wholesale deliveries. Medicines which we were expecting end up not arriving, often with no explanation. Pharmacies are a classic just-in-time supply chain.’

Steve Anderson, of Phoenix Medical – one of the UK’s big three suppliers – said there was disruption to deliveries but that the problem was affecting the whole sector as part of wider disruption to the UK economy. The National Pharmacy Association said: ‘We are aware that deliveries to some pharmacies have been reduced.’