A motion demanding urgent action with regard to medicine shortages was passed at the LMC England Conference this week. In response to this, Krishna Kasaraneni, GPC England executive team member, said: “Drug shortages can happen for lots of different reasons, but they are undoubtedly getting worse and becoming a daily frustration for both GPs and our patients. GPs often only know about shortages once a patient returns from the pharmacy needing an alternative prescription, which can not only add to our already crippling workload, but also, and most worryingly, delay patients’ treatment. The LMC Conference has therefore, acknowledged the benefits of giving pharmacists more control in prescribing safe and considered alternatives, and going forward, there must be systems in place to support pharmacists to ensure they have the necessary patient information to make informed decisions.” This motion was also reported on by the Pharmaceutical Journal.
The Daily Mail has also reported on shortages on a number of prescription medications, including further comments from Krishna Kasaraneni. Read the full article here.