The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) – supported by Community Pharmacy England, charities and patient groups – is calling on the Government to make headway in introducing community pharmacist flexibilities and addressing reimbursement issues that can delay access to medicines.
Medicines Shortages: One Year On assesses progress on supply issues since the launch of the RPS’s Medicines Shortages: Solutions for Empty Shelves in December 2024. The new report sets out where improvements have been made, where target action could accelerate change, and where areas of concern remain.
The burden of managing medicines shortages remains unsustainably high, continuing to impact on pharmacy workloads and exacerbated by the reimbursement system. And now cuts to Integrated Care Boards and the merger of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England (NHSE) risk creating further operational challenges.
The report urges the Government to make a swift decision on community pharmacist flexibilities and address those reimbursement elements of the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) that can affect timely access to medicines, noting the sector’s significant funding gap. It also stresses the need for transparency of information from manufacturers and wholesalers, suggesting that community pharmacy IT platforms integrate the DHSC/NHSE Medicines Supply Tool at the point of dispensing.
Read the ‘Medicines Shortages: One Year On’ report
Our work on medicines shortages
Medicines supply issues continue to be a critical area of work for Community Pharmacy England, and we contributed to this important RPS project.
The increasing amount of work that pharmacies have to do to source medicines, as well as the constrained margin that they are allowed to earn across an ever-growing medicines volume, are adding to the already intense financial challenges that they are facing. Last year’s Pharmacy Pressures Survey found that 95% of pharmacy teams said patients were being inconvenienced by ongoing shortages, and we want to know if that has changed. Please take part in the 2026 Pressures Survey to help us quantify the true scale of medicines supply and other challenges.
Today members of DHSC’s medicines supply team are joining Community Pharmacy England on pharmacy visits across London, gaining first-hand insight into the significant effort required to maintain patient access to essential medicines. These are part of a series of pharmacy visits to help ensure Government and NHS leaders fully understand the operational, financial, and workforce impact of a range of burdens on community pharmacies.
We are also seeking further discussions with DHSC on pharmacy-related medicines supply concerns and have called for a full review of the medicines supply market. You can learn more about our work in this area, as well as find materials to explain supply issues to patients, in our Medicine shortages hub.
Dr. James Davies, Director of Research and Insights at Community Pharmacy England, said:
“Today’s RPS report recognises that the number of medicines shortages remains high, and their management continues to be complex and time-consuming for all involved. Community pharmacy teams, as the front door to the NHS, are bearing the brunt of this challenge.
It is worrying that relatively little has changed since the original report despite a rapidly changing situation. These findings demonstrate the urgent need for concerted action across Government and the NHS to support patients’ continued access to their medications. There is still much to be done, not least in accepting flexibilities for pharmacists in the community and improving digital systems.
Community Pharmacy England is supportive of the report’s recommendations and welcomes its acknowledgement of the need to understand the impact of the CPCF on medicines access for the public.”
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