DHSC publishes medicines shortages leaflets and posters
As part of ongoing work and plans to improve the management of medicines supply issues, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England have published leaflets and posters for patients, community pharmacies and general practices about what to do when faced with medicine supply issues. These resources can be found on the Specialist Pharmacy Service (SPS) website (registration with an NHS email is required).
The resources include a poster providing guidance to pharmacists and GPs on what to do when faced with a shortage of a medicine and where to find the most up to date management advice on national supply issues so that they can best support their patients. It is intended to be printed and displayed in staff-only areas within community pharmacies, GPs and other primary care sites.
The other resource is a patient leaflet to give patients an understanding of why medicines may be in short supply and where to get advice and support to address some of the concerns they may have when there is a shortage of their medicine. This leaflet is intended to be handed out to patients who do not receive the medicine(s) they are expecting because of a national supply issue. The leaflet is supplementary information and should not replace conversations between healthcare professionals and patients regarding medicine shortages.
These publications form part of the wider set of actions and improvements identified by the Government in its policy paper Managing a robust and resilient supply of medicine to help with tackling the issues around medicine shortages.
Community Pharmacy England’s work on medicines supply
Medicines supply issues continue to be a daily battle for community pharmacy, as described in our 2025 Medicines Supply Report.
Earlier this month, Dr. James Davies, Director of Research and Insights at Community Pharmacy England, gave oral evidence to the House of Lords Public Services Committee’s medicines security inquiry to supplement our written evidence. Following his appearance, James also wrote to the Public Services Committee to set out a series of recommendations for Government, which include to undertake a strategic review of medicines supply and pricing, ensure pharmacies are not dispensing medications at a significant loss, and allow pharmacist flexibilities to make changes to the prescribed medicine.
Our Medicine Shortages Hubpage also contains a series of resources developed by Community Pharmacy England on medicines shortages including patient leaflets, posters and links to reporting a shortage. Information about individual medicine supply issues can be found on the Specialist Pharmacy Service (SPS) Medicines Supply Tool.
