Medicine shortages have surged in the United Kingdom over the past two years, becoming a
“new normal” that
is difficult for pharmacies, doctors and patients to manage, underlines a report published Thursday April 18.
Antibiotics, treatment of epilepsy, or replacement hormones prescribed to menopausal women... The number of alert declarations of imminent drug shortages has doubled in three years, going from 648 in 2020 to 1,634 last year, according to this study carried out by the Nuffield Trust, a specialist health think tank.
“More and more patients across the UK are being told by their pharmacist that their treatment is not available, may not be available quickly and is unlikely to be available at any other (pharmacy) nearby.”
, summarizes Mark Dayan of the Nuffield Trust in a press release, describing the phenomenon as
“shocking”
.
Shortages worsened by Brexit
If drug shortages are a regular phenomenon in all European countries, due to the disruption of supply chains since the Covid-19 pandemic or inflation, the situation in the United Kingdom is particularly critical. And it intensified with the country's exit from the European Union, underlines the report.
Brexit
"has undoubtedly significantly weakened the UK's ability to respond"
to shortages, isolating it from the ongoing European effort to redefine supply chains and the collective measures that are being put in place across the country. EU to manage shortages. Medicines
“no longer flow as easily”
between the UK and the EU, and British authorities also generally take longer than European authorities to authorize new medicines.
Consequence: the government is forced to trigger the financial mechanism allowing overpayment for medicines much more often because cheaper alternatives are no longer available. While before 2016 this mechanism was not used more than 20 times per month, its use increased to 199 per month at the end of 2022, and has remained high since, for an additional cost estimated at around 220 million pounds (257 million 'euros) per month between September 2022 and September 2023.
Experts are therefore calling on the government to review the supply system, and to improve communication with health professionals on the alternatives available in the event of a shortage.
“The vast majority”
of medicines are readily available, responded the Ministry of Health, estimating that
“most supply issues have been managed smoothly with minimal disruption to patients”
.