Lemsip shortage blamed on poor planning in Whitehall

A SHORTAGE of flu and cold medicines is down to a ‘lack of planning’ by Government officials who are in denial about supply chain problems, pharmacy bosses said yesterday.

They have reported shortages of products to combat flu and colds, including Lemsip, throat lozenges, cough mixtures and some pain killers. The Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies warned that the crisis could heap pressure on the already-stretched NHS.

Leyla Hannbeck, of the association, said: ‘The demand has been high because this season we’ve seen higher cases of colds and flu and people are trying very hard to look after themselves and making sure that they use the relevant products to manage the symptoms. That has led to a shortage of these products in terms of us not being able to obtain them.’

She added: ‘But this is part of a bigger issue... We are constantly finding ourselves in a situation when as soon as the demand for something goes up we are struggling with the supply.

‘Unfortunately, part of that is a lack of planning by [Department of Health] officials in terms of foreseeing the problems and trying to plan in advance to sort them out. For example, with cold and flu, we knew some months ago cases were going up and it was anticipated that there would be higher demand for these products.

‘So you would have thought that plans would have been in place in terms of managing this with regards to liaising with manufacturers and getting the products in.’ She stressed: ‘If you’re in denial that there are supply issues, if you don’t want to admit there is a problem, how can you find solutions?’ The Department of Health was unavailable for comment.