Pharmacists await key Govt guidance
PHARMACISTS are waiting for details from the Government about what measures are in place to deal with any delays to deliveries of drug supplies amid van driver shortages.
If the situation worsens, pharmacists have suggested that fall-back could involve the use of a “serious shortage protocol”, which the Government had originally prepared, against the backdrop of hard Brexit concerns, to cater for drugs with known supply problems.
This would enable pharmacists to supply alternate forms and strengths of medicines without the need to contact the prescriber.
The National Pharmacists Association (NPA) said on Sunday that it was aware that deliveries to some pharmacies had been reduced and that its members worked together and with local GPs to get medicines that were needed when problems occurred.
Pharmacists are eager to ensure that the panic buying seen at the outset of the pandemic last year – and which has repeated itself, causing fuel shortages at petrol stations – does not happen again, especially when Covid-19 booster vaccinations and flu jabs are being administered.
Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive officer of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies, said she had raised the question of what measures were in place to ensure that supply lines were not disrupted. Her association represents more than 2,000 independent pharmacies around the UK.
“We do everything we can to make sure that we are prepared for any eventuality so that people are not left without medicines.”
The mounting supply crisis has seen around one in six adults in Britain claiming they were not able to buy essential food items at some point during the past two weeks due to products not being available, according to a survey. While around six in 10 (61%) said everything they needed was available to buy, 18% said they had not been able to find essential foods they needed on a regular basis.
A quarter of people reported they had not found other non-essential food items, while a smaller proportion said they had not been able to buy medicine (4%) or fuel (4%).
The survey, by the Office for National Statistics, was collected between September 8 and 19 from a sample of more than 3,500 adults. Some 40% of people questioned said they thought there was less variety in the shops than usual, while 20% reported that items they needed were not available and they could not find a replacement.
Around one in eight (13%) said they had to go to more shops than usual to get what they needed. The figures also suggest around two in 10 (22%) adults who tried to buy medicine or get a prescription experienced some differences compared with usual. The most common reason was having to wait longer for a prescription (13% of adults).
The NHS, Department of Health and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy have been approached for comment.