NHS U-turn gives breast cancer patients access to life-extending drug<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cThe conflict in Iran and uncertainty over shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz have added to concerns about medicine supply chains.<\/p>\n
\u201cPharmacies across the UK are already struggling to access medicines their patients desperately need, while rising prices are putting them under further financial pressure. Too often, pharmacies are left having to source medicines at a loss, placing even greater strain on already stretched businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking to LBC back in April, the head of NHS England said he was “really worried” about vital medical supplies due to the Iran war’s continued pressure on global trade.<\/p>\n
Sir Jim Mackey told LBC’s Nick Ferrari: “We are really worried about this. <\/p>\n
“We’ve already had a couple of supply shocks in the last 12, 18 months or so of key supplies.”<\/p>\n
He added that while the NHS has enough of some supplies to last weeks or even years, others could run out in a matter of days if there was a global supply chain shock. <\/p>\n
Asked what supplies were at risk, he said: \u201cWell, everything, honestly \u2013 everything\u2019s at risk.\u201d <\/p>\n
He added that \u201cthe supply chain is very international\u201d and \u201cwe import a lot of medicines, but it\u2019s an international system\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn every area we have enough to get through a reasonable period, generally a few weeks, but because things perish, and cost money to store, and various other things go out of use, you can\u2019t hold years and years of supply.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo generally, depending on the product, we keep a reasonable product, some of that is held centrally.\u201d <\/p>\n
“It could be days for some products”.<\/p>\n
The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) said this summer a lack of medicines available for some conditions was posing a serious risk to patient safety.<\/p>\n
In June, the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) backed calls for pharmacists to be able to make changes to prescriptions when a medicine is unavailable, and to dispense a safe alternative.<\/p>\n
Professor Victoria Tzortziou Brown, president of the RCGP, said: \u201cMedicine shortages can be frustrating for patients, GPs and pharmacists alike, especially when patients have to endure lots of back and forth to acquire a suitable alternative.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt a time when GPs and pharmacists are working under significant pressures, medicine shortages only add to this.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith appropriate safeguards in place, the college is supportive of pharmacists being able to make limited changes to prescriptions when a medicine is unavailable and a safe, clinically appropriate alternative is available within agreed prescribing guidance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would also support systems that enable timely communication between pharmacists and GP practices when shortages arise, without creating unnecessary administrative burden.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most important thing is that patients are able to access the medication they need safely and without delay.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore widely, it\u2019s essential that when shortages occur, the underlying causes are quickly identified and resolved.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA), a body representing 5,000 pharmacies in England and Wales, is warning that supplies…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":664568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[163,85,46,482],"class_list":["post-664567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-medication"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=664567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/664567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/664568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=664567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=664567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=664567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}