Northern Ireland patients to miss out on prescription drugs 'within weeks' due to 'very real' supply threat and skyrocketing prices, Community Pharmacy NI warns

Community Pharmacy NI say that, without intervention from the Stormont health department, commonly prescribed drugs used to treat health conditions including osteoporosis, high blood pressure, insomnia, mental health and coronary conditions could soon be unavailable with a “very real” threat to the supply.The Department of Health, however, has moved to try and reassure the public that there are “national and locally tried and trusted mitigation arrangements in place for dealing with any supply distributions to ensure that patients continue to get the medicines they need.

In a statement, Community Pharmacy NI warned that "some patients may not be able to get the medicines they need in the coming weeks."

David McCrea, from Dundela Pharmacy in Belfast said: “As a community pharmacist for over 30 years, I have never witnessed the price of medicines rise this sharply. It is becoming increasingly hard for us to afford to buy the medicines from wholesalers because we are not being paid the full cost of these drugs by the Department.

“I have seen the price of some medicines I need to buy for patients rising fifty-fold, but the department only paying a fraction of what I am being charged.”

Gerard Greene, Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy NI said: ““The community pharmacy network has a responsibility to ensure patient safety at all times, and the threat to the supply of vital medicines is very real. It is incumbent upon us to now warn people of the risk to medicine supply for many drugs and to ask the public to understand that pharmacies are doing their best under impossible circumstances.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Health, however, said: “The Minister and Department are very aware of the pressures facing community pharmacies. Community Pharmacy NI were informed that a support package for their sector was being finalised.

"This includes immediate interventions worth over over £5.3m in value, plus a commitment to progress wider reform arrangements in collaboration with CPNI.

"“It is therefore somewhat surprising to see CPNI publicly demanding a package which it already knows is on the way.”