UK Faces 'Most Severe' Medicine Shortages on Record, Posing Serious Patient Safety Risk
Key Insights
The National Pharmacy Association (search) warns the UK is experiencing its most severe medicine shortages ever, with 96% of pharmacists saying the situation poses a serious risk to patient safety.
Serious shortage protocols for Creon (pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy) and Estradot (HRT) have been extended until July 2026, marking the longest-running shortages in NHS history.
Nearly all pharmacies (98%) report patients visiting multiple pharmacies to find prescriptions, while 83% of pharmacy staff have faced abuse or anger from patients over unavailable medicines.
The UK is grappling with what health leaders are calling the "most severe" medicine shortages on record, a crisis that the National Pharmacy Association (search) (NPA) and the Royal College of GPs (search) warn now poses a serious risk to patient safety. The shortages span commonly dispensed medicines including painkillers, blood pressure medication, epilepsy (search) drugs, and hormone replacement therapy, forcing some patients to ration medication or even skip meals.
New survey data from the NPA reveals the scale of the disruption: 98% of pharmacies in the last year encountered patients who had visited several pharmacies in a single day to find a prescription, while 89% were unable to dispense a medicine at least once a day due to supply issues. Critically, 96% of pharmacy respondents said the current situation posed a serious risk to patient safety, and 83% reported facing abuse or anger from patients when prescribed medicines were unavailable.
Record-Breaking Shortage Protocols
The crisis is underscored by two unprecedented serious shortage protocols (SSPs). The pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT) medication Creon has had an SSP in place since May 2024, recently extended until 10 July 2026 — a period spanning more than two years. Estradot, a common hormone replacement therapy (HRT) drug, has been under an SSP since December 2024 and was similarly extended to 10 July, marking over a year and a half of continuous shortages. Both represent the longest-running shortages in NHS history.
SSPs were originally introduced by the Department of Health as an emergency short-term measure to manage supply disruptions. Their prolonged use signals the entrenched nature of the current crisis.
Patient Impact: Rationing and Desperation
The human toll is stark. Bryony Thomas, 48, a pancreatic cancer (search) survivor from Stroud, Gloucestershire, described rationing Creon over the past two years. "There was a three-month window where I couldn't get hold of my enzymes, so I had to reduce what I was eating. You'd have a much smaller meal, you eat less protein, you eat less fat," she said. Thomas added that she would still be rationing were it not for patient groups on social media through which she could share medication.
Her mother-in-law has been making four-hour round trips to obtain the drug from the only pharmacy in Crewe, Cheshire, where it is available. Thomas is calling for a central distribution mechanism to pool Creon supplies left by patients who have died — stocks that are currently destroyed.
"It's really stressful; you're on the phone for just hours, you're driving around to visit pharmacies, and all the patients are having to do this day in, day out," Thomas said.
Underlying Causes
The NPA has identified multiple factors driving the shortages. The Middle East conflict has made supply chains more volatile, though it is not the sole cause. Lack of ingredients, manufacturing disruption, the UK's smaller medicines budget compared with other EU countries, and — in the case of HRT — changing prescribing habits all contribute. Prices of some drugs, such as paracetamol and cetirizine for hay fever, have increased as a result.
Pharmacies have struggled to source commonly dispensed medicines including Ramipril for high blood pressure, along with painkillers such as low-dose aspirin and co-codamol.
Calls for Systemic Reform
NPA chair Olivier Picard said: "This data confirms what pharmacists and GPs have been experiencing for many months; medicine shortages are becoming more frequent, lasting longer and causing increasing disruption for patients. These shortages are some of most severe the UK has experienced. Our medicines market has never been so volatile, with patients and primary care colleagues at the sharp end of events outside of their control."
Picard added: "Although medicine shortages are frustrating and worrying, we are clear that in some instances they pose a serious risk to patient safety."
The NPA is urging the government to convene an emergency taskforce including manufacturers, wholesalers, and clinicians to tackle what it describes as a "complex and growing" problem. The association has also called for amendments to "antiquated" legislation that prevents pharmacies from making substitutions to a prescription when an item is out of stock. Under current rules, patients must be sent back to their GP to make changes, delaying access to medicines and wasting significant time.
Professor Victoria Tzortziou Brown, president of the Royal College of GPs (search), echoed these concerns: "Medicine shortages can be frustrating for patients, GPs and pharmacists alike, especially when patients have to endure lots of back and forth to acquire a suitable alternative. With appropriate safeguards in place, the college is supportive of pharmacists being able to make limited changes to prescriptions when a medicine is unavailable and a safe, clinically appropriate alternative is available within agreed prescribing guidance."
She added: "We would also support systems that enable timely communication between pharmacists and GP practices when shortages arise, without creating unnecessary administrative burden."
Forthcoming Conference
The warnings come ahead of the inaugural Community Pharmacy & General Practice Conference, organised by the NPA and Cogora, running from 21-22 June at the National Conference Centre in Birmingham. The event will bring together more than 1,000 GPs and pharmacists to discuss improved information sharing and collaborative strategies to support patients through the growing number of shortages.
"We hope this conference is a chance to bring together pharmacies and GPs to share ways we can work together to support our patients through a growing number of shortages," Picard said. "Improving dialogue and information sharing ahead of time between GP surgeries and pharmacies can help mitigate some of the impact of disruption to supply chains."