Patients forced into ‘pharmacy bingo’ – as survey says medicine shortages ‘beyond critical’
People are having to play “pharmacy bingo” – going from shop to shop to find stocks – as medicine shortages are worsening, experts have said.
Health leaders say some patients are even having to “ration” their drugs, with a new poll suggesting shortages are a “daily occurrence” for many of England’s pharmacies.
Treatments for ADHD, diabetes and epilepsy are among those affected this year, according to trade body Community Pharmacy England.
Its survey of more than 6,000 pharmacies and 2,000 staff found shortages are “wreaking havoc” on patients.
Nearly all (97%) of staff said patients were being inconvenienced, while 79% said health was being put at risk.
Some 98% said they were also giving out more “I owe yous” – where they can only fulfil part of the prescription.
Nearly all (99%) pharmacies reported supply problems at least weekly, and 72% said they were having “multiple issues a day”.
Another survey last month, by the Nuffield Trust thinktank, said drug shortages had more than doubled between 2020 and 2023 and that Brexit was likely to “significantly weaken” the UK’s ability to deal with the issues.
Shortages have also been a growing problem in Europe and the US in recent years.
However, the UK leaving EU supply chains is said to have added complications such as custom checks at borders and drug makers facing extra regulation.
Nearly all pharmacies reported problems at least weekly and 72% were having multiple issues a day
The falling value of the pound after Brexit has also made it more expensive for the NHS to buy medicines.
Community Pharmacy England boss Janet Morrison said the supply problems were “beyond critical” and had become an “ongoing battle” for pharmacies.
“Patients with a wide range of clinical and therapeutic needs are being affected on a daily basis and this is going far beyond inconvenience, leading to frustration, anxiety and affecting their health,” she added.
“For some patients, not having access to the medicines they need could lead to very serious consequences, even leaving them needing to visit A&E.”
Ms Morrison said the survey was “yet another stark warning which must not be ignored”.
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William Pett from Healthwatch England called it an “ongoing issue that continues to wreak havoc on patients”.
“Healthwatch England hears about how shortages can lead to rationing and desperate instances of ‘pharmacy bingo’, where patients must travel from pharmacy to pharmacy looking for stock,” he said.
Paul Rees, head of the National Pharmacy Association, urged the government “to sort out the UK’s fragile medicines supply system, so that pharmacies can do their job and patients can get their lifesaving medicines in time”.
The Department of Health and Social Care is yet to comment.
The crash involving a cargo ship and oil tanker off the East Yorkshire coast is bad news for the sea, fish and air in the area. What we don’t know yet is quite how bad it will be.
That depends on a few things – but the speed of the collision, clouds of filthy black smoke from the fires and the leaked fuel are certainly worrying.
Firstly, it matters what was on board those two massive vessels.
Follow live: Jet fuel spilling into sea after tanker collision
Analytics firm Vortexa estimates the 183m-long tanker was carrying about 130,000 barrels of jet fuel (kerosene), which is now leaking into the sea.
Jet fuel is not as sticky or viscous as heavier types of oil, thankfully, so it’s less likely to clog the feathers and fur of birds and seals. It can also be broken down by natural bacteria.
But it can still poison fish and kill animals and plants on the shoreline if it makes its way into the soil there.
The Marine Conservation Society has pointed out the site in the Humber estuary is close to some protected areas and is important for seabirds and harbour porpoises.
And both ships will have been powered by a dirtier, heavier kind of oil – likely marine gas oil or heavy fuel oil, though we don’t know the details yet.
Heavy fuel oil is nasty stuff.
Pic: Bartek Smialek/PA
Cheap, thick and tar-like, it can smother animals and is very dangerous if they consume it, and is extremely difficult to clean up. Let’s hope this isn’t creeping around the North Sea already.
We don’t know how much of either the jet fuel or the oil powering the ships has leaked, or how much will be burned off in the violent fires – which themselves are ploughing black smoke and filthy air pollution into the surrounding atmosphere.
And we don’t know for sure what was on the Solong cargo ship and if, or what, will go into the sea.
Cargo ship ‘had sodium cyanide on board’
It was carrying 15 containers of sodium cyanide among other cargo, according to a report from maritime data provider Lloyd’s List Intelligence.
The container vessel was also transporting an unknown quantity of alcohol, said the casualty report – an assessment of incidents at sea – citing a message from the local coastguard.
Plastic takes hundreds of years to break down, and potentially can choke or trap animals.
Many of us have seen that uncomfortable viral video of a turtle having a straw yanked out of its nose. Previous accidents on cargo ships have seen plastic Lego pieces wash up in Cornwall 25 years later.
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Secondly, the impact depends on the sea and weather conditions around it.
Things like the wind and currents affect how an oil spill spreads in the sea. Scientists can draw up computer models to simulate how the oil could behave.
Thirdly, it matters how quickly this is all tackled and then cleaned up, if necessary, and if it can be.
Usually the slower the response, the worse the impact.
The coastguard has said the incident “remains ongoing” and it has started assessing the “likely counter pollution response” that will be required.
Such a response might need the help of numerous public bodies: the government environment department, the transport department, the Environment Agency and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
So for now the best we can hope for – aside from the welfare of the people involved – is that not all the oil is spilled or burnt, that conditions are calm and that rescuers and those cleaning up can work swiftly.
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