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Medicine shortages are now a “painful new normal” for patients, posing a significant risk to public health, pharmacists warned.
A new Community Pharmacy England report (CPE), which represents more than 10,000 community pharmacies, underlined the problems “unprecedented” with which patients face due to the lack of available drugs.
The organization’s survey, which questioned more than 4,300 pharmacy owners and 1,600 pharmacy workers across England, revealed that the situation was worse than a similar evaluation was carried out three years ago.
He found:
- Some 95% of pharmacy workers said patients were still embarrassed by current shortages, while 73% said that supply problems endangered patient health;
- Many are faced with frustrated patients, with 79% of patient assault incidents when drugs were not available or delayed;
- Some 86% of pharmacy owners said that shortages lead patients to visit several pharmacies looking for medicines;
- The search for drugs takes time for the staff, with 39% of the staff of the pharmacy now spending one to two hours a day trying to get me medicines, with more than a quarter (26%) of more than two hours;
- Almost half (49%) of pharmacy owners said that patient services were negatively affected by the pressures of their business, and 94% bind it directly to medical supply problems.
Community Pharmacy England said that, in the past year, the government has published serious shortage protocols (SSP) for key drugs used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorderangina cardiovascular disease and replacement therapy of the pancreatic enzyme.
There are also continuous drug shortages for ADHDDiabetes and epilepsy, he said.
SSPs occur to identify drugs or an alternative amount that can be provided if a drug is out of stock.
Janet Morrison, director general of Community Pharmacy England, said: “Our survey shows that the problems of medicine supply remain a daily reality across the country, the health risk of patients has become a painful new normal.
“Delays in the reception of drugs disrupt not only the treatment of patients, but can also cause unnecessary stress and potential damage to their health.
“The time and continuous efforts necessary to manage shortages also add pressure on the pharmacy teams, which are already working at full row.
“Our survey results suggest a stuck system that is stuck in Breaking Point.”
She said the problems were caused by problems ranging from product stops to the global challenge of the supply chain.
“We also believe that the prices of constantly low medicines in the United Kingdom have made the market less attractive for manufacturers, still weakening the resilience of the supply system,” she said.
“The future is uncertain, with the expected inflation of drug prices and the potential effects of violation across the NHS, but we congratulate ourselves on the government’s commitment to continuous work to strengthen the resilience of the supply chain and monitor the situation.”
Compared to 2022, the 2025 survey revealed an aggravation image, with 51% of pharmacy teams in 2022, claiming that patients were negatively affected by food delays, going to 73% in 2025.
Supply problems were also more frequent, while the teams spend longer trying to settle them.
End McCaul, owner of a community pharmacy in the Grand Manchester, “said:” It is not only a question of lacking in stock: the patients are rightly frustrated and their health is injured.
“Our teams are taken in the middle, spending hours calling suppliers and contacting general practitioners, trying to find alternatives, while trying to hold informed patients.
“Constant uncertainty affects both our staff and patients, and each year does not seem to get worse.”
He presents himself as a healthwatch survey in England with more than 7,000 adults found one in four continues to report the drug shortages, while problems such as prescription delays, pharmacy closings and affordability are increasing.
Some 18% declared prescription errors, 5% were concerned with the cost and 9% said unexpected pharmacies closings.
The survey also suggested that people do not always know the conditions that pharmacists can deal with in order to avoid a trip to the general practitioner.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Health and Social Care said: “This government has inherited the current global supply problems, but we have implemented solid measures to mitigate patient disturbances.
“We work to build the resilience of medicine supply chains and prevent future disturbances while we put the NHS on foot.
“We have recently agreed from 617 million additional pounds of funding over two years with the community pharmacy in England to help community pharmacies, support the sector and provide patients with services closer to their homes.
“The deliberate violence or the abuses directed against health care personnel is unacceptable and all the staff, including pharmacists and their teams, deserves to work in a safe and secure environment.”
