Is there a medicine shortage in the UK?

Long queues snaking through high street pharmacies – if there even is one any more – are becoming a common sight in the UK.

The US and Israel’s surprise war against Iran in February has upended many aspects of daily life, from petrol prices to tropical fruit stocks.

But that also includes how much medicine the UK has.

Some patients say they have no choice but to ration what little of the medication they have left, which can lead to side effects.

Why is there a medicine shortage?

The war means that the Strait of Hormuz, the channel linking the Persian Gulf to the rest of the planet, has been shut down.

Without this route, oil tankers and other cargo ships can’t get through, leading to energy price increases.

Drug prices have risen as a result of this, with manufacturers having fewer key ingredients or paying double the amount to ship them by air.

Some medications have short shelf lives, such as those needed to treat cancer, making lengthy shipping routes to avoid the Strait tricky.

After all, the UK only makes about a quarter of its medicines domestically, while a third comes from India and another third from the EU.

Oil is also needed to make chemicals like methanol and ethylene, which are needed to make some medicines as well as syringes, vials and tubes.

Medicine supply issues ‘only likely to get worse’

Pharmacies must source medicine for the fixed amount that the NHS can cover it for, called a drug tariff.

If the price tag for a drug is above this amount, pharmacies can request that it be added to the government’s price concession list.

Some drug prices have risen 10 times since February, according to the National Pharmacy Association.

There is a record number of medications on the concessions list, according to Community Pharmacy England, with 204 announced in April alone.

The body, which represents community pharmacies, also called retail pharmacies, warned yesterday that this is up from 201 in March.

Drug shortages occur when a pharmacy or hospital orders a medicine but cannot receive it.

This isn’t exactly what’s happening at the moment, said James Davies, director of research at Community Pharmacy England.

He added: ‘We have had a record number of price concessions recently, and while these indicate pricing issues rather than necessarily meaning there are medicine shortages, they show that the medicines supply chain is under increasing pressure, which is only likely to get worse in light of the conflict in the Middle East.’

It comes after Jim Mackey, the head of NHS England, said he’s also ‘really worried’ about medicine supply issues.

Asked how much supply there was, he told LBC: ‘It depends what you’re talking about. In every area, we’ve got enough to get through for a reasonable period… so generally, a few weeks.

‘Because things perish and it costs money to store and various other things go out of use, you can’t hold years and years of supply.

‘Generally, dependent on the product, we keep a reasonable period. Some of that is held centrally, some held locally.’

Olivier Picard, chairman of the NPA, told Pharmacy Magazine that pharmacists must either dispense at a loss – often gouging their own pensions to stay afloat – or ‘protect the bottom line’ by sending patients to other pharmacies miles away.

‘It is very difficult to quantify the losses but take Apixaban 5mg. My pharmacies dispense it approximately 300 times a month in each pharmacy,’ he said.

‘The price concession has been announced at £2.80. So, every time I dispense it, I lose £3.51. That’s over £1,000 in loss on this medication alone each month in every single one of my pharmacies.’

The number of pharmacies in the UK has also been decreasing for years, going below 10,000 for the first time in 20 years in 2025.

What medications have been impacted?

Methylphenidate, often known by its US brand name Ritalin, which is used to treat ADHD, is among the drugs in short supply right now.

Supplies of propranolol, taken to manage heart problems like angina, heart arrhythmia, high blood pressure, as well as anxiety, are also low, according to the medication tracker MHN.

Same goes for ramipril, a high blood pressure medication. Officials have issued a ‘serious shortage’ notice for the capsule form of the drug, meaning patients can only get one month’s supply at a time.

Apixaban is a drug which prevents blood clots – clumps of red blood cells – from forming. Without it, these clots can cause deep vein thrombosis, a blood clot that regularly requires medical intervention.

While the NHS has also been dealing with an ongoing shortage of aspirin and oxybutynin, used for those undergoing hormonal replacement therapy.

Other ongoing shortages are those used to treat diabetes and epilepsy.

The Epilepsy Society has identified at least three deaths in the last two years where a lack of medication was a contributing factor.

Among them, David Crompton was unable to get the anti-seizure medication Tegretol. He fell down stairs in December.

‘For many people with epilepsy, there is no plan B when their medication is not available,’ said the charity’s executive officer, Clare Pelham.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson told Metro: ‘The vast majority of the UK’s licensed medicines are in good supply, and we are working hard to keep it that way.

‘We have established processes to respond to sudden market price increases of medicines. This includes adjusting reimbursement prices based on current market conditions, which helps ensure that pharmacies can continue to obtain medicines for their patients.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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