Hospitals and pharmacies facing medicine shortages, says The London Economic

pharmafile | October 26, 2021 | News story | Manufacturing and Production  

As the NHS faces soaring waiting lists and prepares for a winter surge in COVID cases, they must also gear up for another potential crisis: medicine shortages.

Along with pandemic-related supply chain shortages, Brexit has brought on disruptions, which the UK government has failed to warn health services about. As ninety percent of the UK’s medicines are imported, the UK is vulnerable to shortages.

Charities and rights groups have warned the government about the consequences that Brexit would have on supplies, and have kept an open record of disrupted medications, and the names of pharmaceuticals that are in short supply, out of stock, or that have been recalled.

The MHRA has published a Central Alerting System (CAS) covering the disruptions. CAS reveals that in the last three months, alerts have been issued for diazepam tubes for epilepsy treatment, the US giant Pfizer’s anti-diabetes drug Minodiab®, and blood specimen collectors supplied by the US firm, Beckton Dickinson, among others.

In July 2019, the government’s “Alert and recalls for drugs and medical devices” listed 644 products. However, as of October 14th this year, the number was 877, driven by the recent surge in COVID cases and following Brexit.

If further pressure is placed on medical supplies, the anticipated winter surge in flu cases as well as COVID cases could be exacerbated.

Lina Adams

 

Related Content

No items found

Latest content