Charities ask new Health Sec for action on medication shortages

Epilepsy Society has joined forces with other health charities to ask for an urgent meeting with the new Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, to discuss ongoing shortages of medications.

A recent report by the Nuffield Trust has shown that medication shortages have become the new normal in post-Brexit Britain, with a ‘shock rise’ in the shortages of life-saving drugs including anti-seizure medications.
 

The Epilepsy Society has been working closely with Epilepsy Action, SUDEP Action and Parkinson’s UK, to address the shortage and now the charities are hoping that a new government could push the issue to the top of the political agenda.
In recent months, the charities’ Helplines have been inundated with calls from people who are having to travel miles to get their prescriptions fulfilled and who are often offered only a fraction of their full prescription.
 

A survey of almost 1500 people carried out by the charities earlier this year, showed:

• 70% of respondents have had difficulties getting vital medication over the past year
• 55% had to visit multiple pharmacies before getting hold of their medication
• 66% were only given a fraction of the amount that was on their prescription until more
  supplies were available
• 40% saw a worsening of symptoms that they attributed to the stress of trying to get
  their prescription filled
• Almost 40% of respondents with epilepsy reported having seizures induced by
  having to switch or skip medication

In their letter to the Health Secretary, the charities said: “We believe that the whole of the medicines supply chain needs urgently reviewing. We need clarity and a guarantee that pharmacists will be able to dispense the medications people with long-term health conditions desperately need.
 

“On behalf of the 800,000 people with epilepsy and Parkinson’s in the UK, as the newly appointed Health Secretary, we would urge you to meet with us to discuss the worrying issue of medicine supply and develop long-term solutions to resolve this critical problem.”
 

You can read the full letter here.