Supply crisis forces rationing of HRT

HRT is to be subject to emergency rationing measures as shortages continue. The Health Secretary has authorised protocols limiting prescriptions of key products to three months. Manufacturing and supply problems have fuelled shortages of some forms of hormone treatment, while demand has risen by two thirds in the past year. Last night, Besins Healthcare Ltd, one of the leading manufacturers of HRT, said its supplies would not increase until June.

HRT is to be subject to emergency rationing measures as the shortage crisis continues.

The Health Secretary has authorised new protocols limiting prescriptions of key products to three months in an attempt to ensure there are enough products to go round.

Manufacturing and supply problems have fuelled shortages of some forms of hormone treatment, while demand has risen by two thirds in the last year.

Last night, one of the leading manufacturers of HRT said its supplies will not increase until June.

Besins Healthcare Ltd, which manufactures the popular treatment Oestrogel, said it is planning an increase in supplies in order to respond to rising demand, but said it would take several months for this to happen.

The Daily Telegraph last month revealed a growing HRT black market, with women resorting to “bartering and swapping bottles” or paying £50 for a single pack. Since then, more women have spoken about how they have been forced to share supplies, or rush from one pharmacy to another, to obtain medication.

Yesterday, Sajid Javid said fixing shortages would be a “national mission” as he deployed the head of the vaccines taskforce to tackle the matter. Hours later, he ordered urgent action to be taken to ensure that women are able to access supplies in the short-term.

The Serious Shortage Protocols (SSP) will limit supplies of three key products – Oestrogel, Ovestin cream and Premique Low Dose – to three months.

The order, which will expire at the end of July, means pharmacists will be obliged to limit orders, regardless of what the prescription says.

Until now, women have routinely been able to have prescriptions for sixmonth periods, with plans to extend this to up to a year, as part of efforts to cut the costs. But this plan has now been postponed until April 2023.

Officials said that any woman whose supply was limited to three months, despite having been issued a longer prescription, would not be expected to pay extra prescription charges for their next order.

Imposing a three-month limit would mean more women are able to access the medication they want, officials said.

Women in some areas have told how their supplies have already been limited to just one month.

Mr Javid said: “This next step will ensure women across the UK will be able to reliably access this vital medication and maintain this lifeline for millions who need it.”

Officials said the vast majority of HRT products, including alternatives, currently remain available.

Gayle Stevens-white, 46, a menopause coach from Farnham, Surrey, said women were “at their wits’ end” over the shortages. After switching to a different product herself, she had leftover bottles of HRT and has been sending them to women struggling for supplies.

“I just thought, well, I can’t let these women who are absolutely desperate [go without]. Their mental health, and their overall wellbeing… is just so compromised,” she said.

Carolyn Harris, Labour MP for Swansea East, said she had heard of women “driving up and down the motorway to swap patches for gel”, while others are buying “really overpriced stuff on the internet”.

The Telegraph has seen Oestrogel on ebay for £60, a six-fold increase on the typical £9.35 prescription charge.