Medicines shortages

Schizophrenia drug shortage affecting patient care, College of Mental Health Pharmacy warns

Supplies of aripiprazole 10mg tablets are low until late August 2022 and there is "limited scope for alternatives".…

More than half of pharmacists warn medicine shortages have risked patient safety in the past six months

Exclusive: Results from The Pharmaceutical Journal’s annual salary and job satisfaction survey show that 54% of UK-based pharmacists said medicines shortages have put patients at risk in the past six months.…

Government warns hospital trusts to conserve stock of some thrombolytic drugs amid shortages

Boehringer Ingelheim, which is the sole manufacturer of alteplase and tenecteplase injections, has said "manufacturing constraints" are affecting global supply of the medicines.…

Alendronic acid shortage is contributing to medication errors, warn pharmacists

Exclusive: Pharmacists say switching patients' medication as a result of the alendronic acid shortage is affecting concordance and potentially causing harm.…

Government-funded medicines freight service worth £1.2m used by four suppliers

Exclusive: In response to a Freedom of Information request, the Department of Health and Social Care confirmed that four suppliers had used the freight service a combined total of 22 times since it was announced in November 2021.…

Hormone replacement therapy shortages: will the government’s new approach work?

There are severe shortages of several hormone replacement therapy products at the moment. Here, we examine whether the government is doing enough to rectify the problems.…

HRT shortages made worse by long-term prescribing, says PSNC 

Exclusive: Mike Dent, director of pharmacy funding at the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, said that demand for HRT prescriptions is outstripping supply more than previously, following the announcement of changes to prescription charges.…

Majority of pharmacy owners report significant spike in medicine supply problems

The "distressing" Pharmacy Services Negotiating Committee survey results also reveal that temporary closures caused by staff shortages equated to more than 844 days of closures.…

Pharmacists told not to stockpile medicines as end of Brexit transition period nears

Pharmacists have been told not to stockpile medicines in advance of the end of the Brexit transition period.…

Government will not say if Brexit medicines stockpile warehousing contracts have been extended beyond June 2020 cut-off

The government says it is unable to confirm whether it has extended its warehousing contracts for storing medicine stockpiles beyond the end of June 2020, when they were expected to end.…