‘Most extreme medication scarcity ever’ hits UK as frequent drug’s value skyrockets 2100%
A top pharmacist has spoken out on the issue, saying he is “so concerned” at the state of the medical issues in the country
A pharmacist has warned of shortage problems(Image: Sapphire Hope / SWNS)
Britain is in the throes of the ‘most severe drug shortage on record’ as the price of common medicines skyrocket, it has been warned.
Top pharmacist Mo Almobaraki, 57, who owns two chemists in Bristol, said it has become “increasingly difficult to obtain very basic medicine” such as aspirin, heart medication or blood pressure medication. He said beta blockers, heart or blood pressure medication, HRT (hormone replacement therapy) and Creon – used for those with pancreatic insufficiency – are hard to get hold of.
The pharmacy owner of 20 years said last week the price of a statin medication, used to lower cholesterol in the blood, skyrocketed “overnight” from £1 to £22. It comes after Olivia Picard, the chair of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), which represents 6,000 independent community pharmacies in the UK, said medicine shortages are currently “some of the most severe the UK has ever experienced”.
Mo, who has been in the industry for 26 years, said: “People are worried about their medication – elderly people – and they can’t get it. It’s just so difficult and so concerning.”
Pharmacies purchase medications and the NHS reimburses them, but Mo said his business is having to fork out extra for drugs as prices have risen but the reimbursement amount for each drug, set by the NHS, has not.
With around five million people in the UK currently using statins, Mo added that “thousands, maybe millions” of packets of this type of medication will be dispensed to patients every day, but the onus is on pharmacies to pay more.
“Either we refuse to give it to the patients because we are unable to obtain it or if we are able to obtain it we have to pay extra, above the reimbursements from the NHS,” he said.
Mo adds that the shortfall “will incur a loss for the pharmacy so we are actually working in the negative”.
He said: “This is our difficulty. If we can’t get it, that will have an impact on patient safety. The patient is either left without medication or the patient has to run around between different pharmacies.
“It has an impact on our time. You have to ring different suppliers, you have to ring different wholesalers, you have to ring the [doctor’s] surgery to get an alternative. It’s just been so hard, so difficult.”
Mo said it didn’t start “last week”.
“It’s just been getting worse since the lockdown, the pandemic, I think it’s getting worse and worse and worse,” he said.
Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs) have been in place for Creon since May 2024 and were extended by the NHS in April until July 10, which is a new record, whilst Estradot, an HRT drug, has had an SSP since Dec 2024 and has also been extended by the NHS in April to run until July 10.
Mo also says his business is being “squeezed really hard on both sides”, not only due to the lack of affordable or available medication but also because of the introduction of patient consultations through the Pharmacy First scheme in early 2024.
It means NHS pharmacies can supply prescriptions for minor illnesses and was designed to alleviate pressure on the NHS, but the shortage in medicine availability and demand for the Pharmacy First scheme also means the business is “squeezed”.
