Antibiotic supply gone from bad to worse, say pharmacists

Pharmacists say supplies of antibiotics have "gone from bad to worse" in a week and the situation is "unacceptable".

The Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMP) said it was time for the government to acknowledge the problem and get a plan in place.

Four antibiotics have now been added to a list of products that cannot be exported from the UK.

The UK government says it is working urgently with manufacturers and wholesalers to speed up deliveries.

However, Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the AIMP, which represents 4,000 pharmacies in the UK, said the supply of key antibiotics to treat strep A was "very poor".

She said the problem had been highlighted a week ago, but it was now getting worse, making it very difficult to get hold of any antibiotics.

"People are having to go from one pharmacy to another - it's chaos," she said.

"Supplies are not coming through to us and it feels like no-one cares."

Dr Hannbeck said putting four antibiotics - three of which are go-to treatments for strep A - on the banned UK export list was "too little too late".

Amoxicillin, phenoxymethylpenicillin (penicillin V), azithromycin oral suspension and cefalexin are used to treat a large range of bacterial infections, including strep A, chest and skin infections.

Her message to worried parents is that pharmacists are working very hard to find alternatives, and also changing formulations from solid pills to liquid medicines.

But even the alternatives are running short, Dr Hannbeck says.

"Manufacturers currently have supplies of antibiotics available to treat strep A," a spokesperson from the Department of Health and Social Care said.

"We continue to work urgently with manufacturers and wholesalers to expedite deliveries, bring forward stock they have to help ensure it gets to where it's needed and boost supply to meet demand as quickly as possible, and support access to these vital medicines."

GPs have been advised to prescribe antibiotics for children who may have worsening symptoms linked to strep A, a bacterial infection which can lead to scarlet fever and, very rarely, a serious and fatal invasive infection called iGAS.

Strep A infections tend to increase in the winter and peak in the spring, but this year cases are rising at an earlier point than usual - probably because of changes in the normal cycle of infections because of the pandemic.

The trade body which represents drug wholesalers, the Healthcare Distribution Association (HDA), said more stock of antibiotics was being delivered into warehouses now and would be with pharmacies in the coming days.

Martin Sawer, executive director of the HDA, said one national wholesaler had told him that demand for medicines had risen by 400-500% on last December, .

"We are prioritising all the antibiotics amid huge demand for them, particularly liquid solutions," he said.

Pharmacists also say they are being charged up to £19 for a pack of drugs that normally costs a few pounds, after prices went up sharply amid a rise in cases of strep A.

As a result, they say they are losing thousands of pounds a week because only a fraction of what the drugs cost can be recouped from the NHS.

The Competition and Markets Authority is now investigating the pricing of antibiotics by drug companies.