Minister rules out review on impact of medicine shortages on pharmacies

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has ‘no plans’ to conduct a review of the impact of medicine supply chain shortages on community pharmacies, it has been revealed.

Karin Smyth, secondary care minister, confirmed the government's stance in reply to a parliamentary question from Sadik Al-Hassan, Labour MP for North Somerset.

Ms Smyth said: 'Although the department has no plans to conduct a specific review, we constantly work to identify and take forward further actions to reduce the impact of medicine shortages, including targeted winter monitoring.'

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Mr Al-Hassan, who is also a pharmacist, had asked Ms Smyth about the possibility of a review amid increasing concerns surrounding pharmaceutical supply chain problems.

'Having worked in community pharmacies for nearly 20 years, I have witnessed at first hand the pain that medicine shortages can cause North Somerset patients and their loved ones,' he said.

Care minister Ms Smyth said that ‘increasing the resilience of the UK medical supply chain is a key priority’.

‘I regularly meet the team to routinely take action to mitigate supply issues, including requesting additional stock, identifying alternative global sources and issuing management advice,’ she said in her response.

Severe shortages of several medicines have been revealed by supply notifications from Community Pharmacy England this month, including diabetes treatments and anti-depressants.

NovoRapid PumpCart (insulin aspart) 100units/ml solution for injection 1.6ml cartridges is in limited supply until 2027, and Venlafaxine 37.5mg modified release (MR) tablets are out of stock until mid-July 2025.

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In addition, an update from DHSC also recently announced that the Serious Shortage Protocols for Estradot 75micrograms/24hours patches (SSP080) and Estradot 100micrograms/24hours patches (SSP081) have been further extended to Friday 10 October 2025.

Meanwhile, an ongoing shortage of pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy medication Creon has been described as the ‘worst stock shortage’ pharmacists have ever had to deal with.

A survey of 300 pharmacies by the National Pharmacies Association warned of patients skipping meals, rationing doses and travelling distances of over 30 miles to obtain supply due to ongoing shortages of the treatment.

A House of Commons research briefing published in April 2025 highlighted the complexity of medicine supply chains in the UK, noting that shortages can stem from a range of causes, including manufacturing or distribution issues and rising demand.

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The report also pointed to broader geopolitical factors, such as the war in Ukraine, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the impact of Brexit.

In February, the a new survey from the DHSC asked pharmacy teams how they receive and respond to medicine supply notifications, as part of efforts to improve how it communicates medicines shortages.