Patients are being put at risk by medicine supply shortages and strict rules on prescriptions in pharmacies, health leaders have warned.
Distressed sick people are being turned away without vital drugs as some chemists are unable to dispense prescriptions at least once a day, grim research by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has shown today. The NPA said the Government must urgently grant much greater flexibility for pharmacists to substitute medication when it is safe to do so.
At the moment, patients must go back to their GP for a new prescription if the item or dose they have been prescribed is out of stock. The only exception to this rule is in very limited circumstances when a Serious Shortage Protocol has been issued by the NHS.
In January, Lancashire coroner Christopher Long wrote to Health Secretary Wes Streeting on this issue following the death of two-year-old Ava Hodgkinson. He told how she died of overwhelming sepsis from a strep A infection after delays in receiving antibiotics due to restrictions preventing a pharmacist from amending an out-of-stock prescription.
The NPA, which represents 6,000 independent community pharmacies, has long been warning that pharmacies across the country are facing a massive crisis. Previous NPA analysis of NHS data found 1,250 pharmacies have shut since 2017.
Meanwhile pharmacists are currently threatening to cut their opening hours in “collective action” unless their funding is increased. The NPA has warned that thousands of pharmacies face a financial ‘cliff edge’ in April as rises in National Insurance and National Living Wage take effect.
It has previously balloted for the work-to-rule action, slashing opening hours to contractual minimums, if a better NHS pay deal cannot be negotiated. The Mirror is campaigning to save family chemists.
On Monday the NPA warns of the effects of the crisis on patients day to day. It said its survey of 500 pharmacies found all were unable to dispense a prescription at least once a day due to supply problems.
Most (95%) also reported patients coming to their pharmacy at least once a day to get medicines they had failed to obtain elsewhere due to supply problems. Furthermore, 96% of pharmacies told how they were unable to dispense a prescription at least once a day, despite having a safe alternative formulation in stock.
Nick Kaye, chairman of the NPA, said: “These are deeply concerning statistics which show that patients are potentially having to forgo vital medication due to shortages. Pharmacies are at the sharp end of medicines shortages and frequently have to turn away distressed, frustrated and sometimes angry patients.
“It is particularly frustrating for pharmacists to be unable to meet a clear need when they have a perfectly safe and effective solution in their pharmacy already. It is madness to send someone back to their GP and it risks a patient either delaying taking vital medication or forgoing it altogether, which poses a clear risk to patient safety.
“We’re pleased the Government are taking steps to bring together manufacturers, wholesalers and pharmacies to try and tackle this issue. However, the Government must look again at allowing pharmacists – who are highly trained healthcare practitioners – to use their professional judgment to supply an appropriate alternative when the prescribed version is unavailable.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “Community pharmacies have a vital role to play as we shift focus of healthcare out of hospitals and into the community as part of our Plan for Change. We will work with the sector, making better use of the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, to build a service fit for the future.
“The Government is currently considering enabling pharmacists to substitute to a different dose or formulation, under specified circumstances, where such a substitution might be both urgent and safe.”