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

Pharmacists and GPs in the UK say NHS patients are facing the worst drug shortages they have seen in at least a decade. Speaking to the Guardian, professional associations said the shortages affect a wide range of essential prescription and over-the-counter products and have forced some patients to delay treatment for days.

According to the National Pharmacy Association's weekly supply report, 124 products were on an active national supply notice at the end of May, about 60% higher than the same period last year. Categories affected include insulin analogues, broad-spectrum antibiotics, the ADHD medicine methylphenidate and some cardiac drugs.

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: "We hear almost daily about patients being turned away at the pharmacy." Hawthorne said the situation had moved beyond inconvenience into a safety concern, with disrupted dosing in insulin and antiepileptics potentially causing serious harm.

Janet Morrison, chief executive of Community Pharmacy England, told the Guardian the crisis had several causes. Smaller manufacturers withdrawing from the UK market after Brexit, global raw-material bottlenecks, factory-level production halts and the weakness of sterling against the dollar over the past year were the most frequently cited drivers.

The ADHD shortage has been particularly acute. In early 2026 the European Medicines Agency and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) jointly warned that fluctuating supply of methylphenidate and lisdexamfetamine was expected throughout 2026. Switching paediatric prescriptions to alternative brands takes time, the agencies said.

A spokesperson for the UK Department of Health and Social Care said: "We are working closely with manufacturers and distributors to minimise the impact of supply issues on patients." The department said the number of Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs), which allow pharmacists to dispense a different dose or brand without a new prescription, has increased to manage the backlog.

Pharmacists say supply gaps are also taking a heavy toll on working hours. According to a National Pharmacy Association survey, in May pharmacies spent an average of 17 hours per week sourcing alternatives; in 2023 the figure was nine. Many independent pharmacies say there is no clear way to absorb the cost.

For patients the most visible consequence is delay. Sarah Hayes, a Type 1 diabetic from Manchester, told the Guardian she had assembled her insulin pump cartridges across three different pharmacies in recent months. "It used to be a phone call. Now I drive around two days a week," she said. NHS officials confirm similar accounts are more common outside London.

Short-term measures include MHRA temporary import approvals, NHS England's expanded Serious Shortage Protocol list and the pharmacy sector negotiating bulk-purchase agreements. The department also said it is working on a registry requiring manufacturers to declare stock levels for critical medicines in advance.

For a more lasting fix, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society is calling for a revival of UK-based generic manufacturing. The Society said the number of medicines with only a single UK supplier has risen by 40% across more than 200 products since Brexit. The government has said it plans to publish a comprehensive Medicines Security Strategy by autumn, although pharmacists are pressing for a faster timetable.