An upsurge in medicine shortages is significantly affecting EU pharmacists

According to a Medicines Shortages survey, conducted by The European Union Pharmaceutical Group (PGEU), pharmacists in the EU spent an additional hour per week dealing with medicine shortages in 2019. The survey discovered that the average hours spent per week on coping with drug shortages increased significantly, from five-point-six hours per week in 2018, compared to six-point-six hours per week in 2019.

One national pharmacy representative body was surveyed in each of the twenty-four countries and results exposed that twenty-one of them countries suffered from an upsurge in medicine shortages in 2019 compared to the previous year. Also, sixteen respondents revealed that two-hundred medicines were in short supply in their country during the survey. Furthermore, eighty-two per cent of respondents stated that due to an upsurge in time spent dealing with shortages, community pharmacies experienced a financial decline. Moreover, all the countries revealed that medicine shortages were causing inconvenience and distress to patients.

Policy Manager at the National Pharmacy Association, Helga Mangion, stated: “Because of heroic efforts by pharmacists, patients usually get their medicines when and where they need them, but longstanding faults in the medicines supply chain too often leave patients waiting.”

Pharmaceutical Services Negotiation Committee’s Director of pharmacy funding, Mike Dent, stated: “Shortages of generic medicines are a long-acknowledged problem and PSNC is concerned about the additional time that community pharmacy teams are spending to ensure patients have the medicines they need. This report goes to show that the UK isn’t alone in experiencing these issues. Shortages can occur due to a range of unforeseen events but during twenty-nineteen, powers enabling the government to obtain more information from manufacturers and suppliers, as well as preparations for a possible no-deal Brexit, greatly improved communication channels across the UK supply chain. This improved information flow along with measures such as the SSPs should help mitigate shortages when they occur.”