Hospitals are being hit by shortages of key drugs used to provide pain relief, prevent blood clots and tackle high blood pressure.
Dozens of NHS trusts in England have encountered scarcities of aspirin, the painkiller co-codamol – a combination of paracetamol and codeine – and ramipril, a blood pressure tablet.
Nine trusts have had problems getting enough supplies of two of those three common medications, while one ran short of all three.
The shortages underline how precarious the health service’s supply chains for basic medicines have become in recent years as a result of trade disputes, global conflict and manufacturing problems.
Pharmacists have said supply problems have become a “national crisis” and in some cases have left patients unable to access their usual medications for weeks at a time.
Hospitals’ drug supply problems have emerged in freedom of information requests by Dr Rodolfo Catena, an expert in global health supplies at University College London, about stock levels of the three drugs. Sixty of the 184 trusts from which he sought figures responded.
The most widespread shortage involved aspirin, which is used to reduce pain and the risk of blood clots. Twenty-six (62%) of the 42 trusts that responded about it had experienced disruption to their supplies between last December and March this year.
Thirteen (31%) of the 42 trusts that replied on co-codamol had run short of that drug, which helps relieve muscle pain, period pain and toothache. York and Scarborough NHS trust’s supplies had been disrupted since May 2025, and Royal Wolverhampton NHS trust had trouble getting enough co-codamol for the 10 months between October 2025 and August this year.
Source: The Guardian, 29 September 2026
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