NHS staffing cuts could hamper efforts to manage medicine shortages

Staffing cuts at integrated care boards (ICB) and wider NHS reorganisation risk the loss of the local expertise needed to tackle medicine shortages, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has warned.

In a new report the RPS said that the loss of staff from 50% cuts to ICBs and merger of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England was an ongoing concern for medicines supply.

The report said: ‘The loss of staff, with 50% cuts to ICBs and the merger of DHSC and NHS England is creating operational challenges.

‘System-wide reorganisations risk the loss of local links and expertise that support collaborative working to manage shortages.

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‘The bandwidth available in teams to support or influence shortage plans may be limited by this disruption.’

The report, Medicines Shortages: One Year On, also warned that the number of medicine shortages remained high, and management ‘continues to be complex and time-consuming’ for the pharmacy and healthcare teams involved.

It said: ‘The operational impact of managing medicines shortages may start to impact on patient care as pharmacy resource is pulled away from other activities.

‘In secondary care, system leaders/hospital management at times fail to recognise that the growth in shortages puts an unprecedented burden on procurement and clinical pharmacy teams.’

The report also said that initiatives to secure medicines in one country can have unintended consequences for the global supply and that trade and customs barriers will ‘always have a significant impact’ on global pharmaceutical supply chains.

It added: ‘Medicines shortages and the longer-term security of medicines supply chains remain a priority for governments.

‘Geopolitical influences continue to have a significant impact, as the UK competes in a global commodities market.’

The report provides an overview of the progress made since the RPS published its Medicines Shortages: Solutions for Empty Shelves in December 2024, which was assessment of the causes of medicines shortages, their impact, and what could be done to manage them.

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While there has been progress across some recommendations and a clear commitment from DHSC and industry trade bodies to work together to encourage early reporting of shortages, pharmacy teams ‘continue to be drawn into managing fragile medicines supplies’, the RPS said.

It called for improved information flows from manufacturers to wholesalers to pharmacies in relation to medicine shortages, because ‘front line pharmacy teams continue to report instances of medicines going into shortage with little or no advance warning’.

A national strategy to tackle medicine shortages ‘must’ be supported by senior leaders in government, the RPS added.

Commenting on report, Olivier Picard, chair of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA), said: ‘Medicines shortages are unsustainable for pharmacists and potentially harmful for patients.

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‘It is good that the RPS too is taking steps to keep up the momentum for change, because it cannot be acceptable that medicines shortages have become a near-permanent fixture in the UK.

‘Making better use of pharmacists’ clinical skills and reforming the reimbursement elements of the NHS contractual framework would go some way to easing the pressure on frontline services. But there also needs to be clearer accountability within government to ensure progress is driven and sustained over the long term.’