NHS patients face worst drug shortages on record, say pharmacists and GPs

Britons are facing some of the “most severe” shortages of NHS medicines on record including common painkillers, epilepsy drugs and HRT, health leaders have warned, even forcing some patients with impaired digestive systems to skip meals.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has warned that medicine shortages pose a “serious risk to patient safety”.

The Royal College of GPs has also raised concerns about the impact medicine shortages have on patients, GPs and pharmacists.

Both have highlighted long-lasting supply issues affecting Estradot, a hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for menopausal women, and Creon, a drug taken by people with pancreatic cancer and cystic fibrosis to help them digest food.

Britons are facing some of the “most severe” shortages of NHS medicines on record including common painkillers, epilepsy drugs and HRT, health leaders have warned, even forcing some patients with impaired digestive systems to skip meals.

Olivier Picard, a pharmacist who chairs the NPA, said: “Medicine shortages are becoming more frequent, lasting longer and causing increasing disruption for patients.”

“These shortages are some of the most severe the UK has experienced. It is deeply distressing to find patients who have travelled from pharmacy to pharmacy to find the medicines they need without success.”

He said shortages were “frustrating and worrying”, and that “in some instances they pose a serious risk to patient safety”.

Read full story

Source: The Guardian, 18 June 2026

Further reading on the hub:

• Medicines shortages: minimising the impact on patients
• Creon shortages: “It’s just another thing patients with cystic fibrosis could do without”
• Medication supply issues: Mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS)
• Medication supply issues: A pharmacist’s perspective