The UK could be days away from running out of some medical supplies due to disruption caused by the war in Iran, the head of the NHS in England has said.
NHS England chief executive Sir Jim Mackey said he was “really worried” about medicine supply issues during a phone-in on LBC Radio.
The caller asked what contingency planning is in place in the NHS because “the UK imports 75% of its medicine”.
Sir Jim replied: “We are really worried about this. We’ve already had a couple of supply shocks in the last 12 to 18 months of key supplies.”
He said there is a team in place to “focus on where the risks might be through the supply chains”.
Asked how much supply there is, he replied: “It depends what you’re talking about.
“In every area, we’ve got enough to get through for a reasonable period… so generally, a few weeks
“Because things perish and it costs money to store and various other things go out of out of use, you can’t hold years and years of supply, generally dependent on the product we keep a reasonable period.
“Some of that is held centrally, some held locally.”
Asked whether in some instances it would be “weeks worth of supply”, Sir Jim replied: “Yeah, it could be days for some products”.
Henry Gregg, chief executive of the National Pharmacy Association, said: “We’re not currently seeing shortages of medicine directly linked to the conflict in the Middle East, but pharmacies are seeing disturbing spikes in prices which can be an early indicator of challenges.
“The Department of Health have issued unprecedented numbers of price concessions designed to cope with price surges, which are likely exacerbated by this current situation.
“The NHS has driven down the price of medicines over many years, which leaves the UK vulnerable in a global market and contributes to the rising problem of medicine shortages, which are a daily reality for many years for our members.
“Pharmacies will always do everything they can to ensure patients get the medicines they need but they must do this in an increasingly competitive global market.
“The Government needs to ensure both that physical supply routes are protected during this conflict but also ensure that the NHS is providing sufficient funding to ensure that Britain is not left behind in the international market at a time when both supply and demand for medicines are very challenging.”
On Monday, the Independent Pharmacies Association said the UK was facing a “perfect storm of factors exacerbating medicine shortages”.
Chief executive Dr Leyla Hannbeck said: “The UK pharmacy sector depends heavily on imports, particularly from India and China, and ongoing pressures, from rising energy costs to constrained raw ingredients from the Middle East conflict, are already disrupting supply and risk worsening shortages without decisive action.”
On Monday a Government spokesperson said: “There are currently no reported medicine shortages as a result of conflict in the Middle East.
“We continue to monitor the situation closely for any impacts on the medical supply chain.
“The department actively monitors emerging threats to supply resilience and has established processes in place to manage disruption across the health and social care sector.”
