Medicine shortages have become more common in the UK in the past few years, according to research by the Nuffield Trust.
Although global problems with supply chains and the availability of key ingredients are the main reason for the shortages, the UK’s exit from the European Union has weakened the country’s ability to tackle the issue by splitting it from European supply chains, authorisations and collective efforts to respond to shortages, the report said.
We now have a “new normal” of frequent disruption to supplies of crucial products including antibiotics and epilepsy drugs.
Compared to three years ago, drugs companies are issuing more than double the number of notifications warning of impending shortages: in 2023 there were 1,634 such alerts issued, compared to 648 in 2020.
“More and more patients across the UK are experiencing a pharmacist telling them that their medication is not available, it may not be available soon, and it may not be available anywhere nearby,” said Mark Dayan, Brexit programme lead at the Nuffield Trust. “This is also creating a great deal of extra work for both GPs and pharmacists.
“We know many of the problems are global and relate to fragile chains of imports from Asia, squeezed by Covid-19 shutdowns, inflation and global instability.
“Officials in the UK have put in place a much more sophisticated system to monitor and respond, and used extra payments to try to keep products flowing. But exiting the EU has left the UK with several additional problems — products no longer flow as smoothly across the borders with the EU, and in the long term our struggles to approve as many medicines might mean we have fewer alternatives available.”
