A WEST Belfast pharmacist says he may be forced to ration some medicines amid warnings of a shortage.
Community Pharmacy NI has warned of an imminent risk to the supply of essential medicines in the North.
Briefing MLAs at an All-Party Group meeting at Stormont on Tuesday representatives from CPNI advised of a growing shortage of many common medicines including the painkiller co-codamol 30/500mg which is likely to extend for several months.
As things stand, community pharmacies may be forced to ration supplies of medicines related to shortages, potentially affecting on average 50 to 100 patients per pharmacy, so that people have some supply and do not run out of vital medicines.
There is also another shortage affecting specific low-dose, dissolvable aspirin used primarily as an antiplatelet medicine for patients at risk of stroke or heart attack.
When questioned by MLAs on the potential impact for the North, Community Pharmacy NI confirmed that community pharmacies here are typically trying to source stock for over 100 common medicine lines in short supply.
While the current shortages are driven by global manufacturing and supply chain constraints, the organisation stressed that these issues represent significant medicines security and supply concerns in the North with potentially direct implications for patient safety and consequential pressures for GPs, out-of-hours services and other parts of the health system.
Speaking to the Andersonstown News, Terry Maguire, from Maguire's Pharmacy in Beechmount, explained: "Co-codamol is a combination of paracetamol and codeine. It is used for pain. The codeine element has a number of strengths which is were the complication lies.
"The strength in shortage is the 30/500mg which is used for more severe pain.
"Pharmacies do their best to keep supplies continued but at the minute we are really struggling so we may be forced to ration.
"I am asking the public to be considerate. We are doing the best we can. Not one pharmacy has huge supplies because everyone has the same wholesaler.
"The main concern for me is that patients should not try and increase their dosage of lower-strength co-codamol to try and get the same benefit. By doing that, they will increase their paracetamol intake which is consistent at 500mg across all co-codamol.
"If they do that, they run a really big risk of severe adverse effects from paracetamol which can be fatal.
"The shortage is a manufacturing issue. We are in a global medicine market."
In the North, approximately 50,000 packs, equating to around five million tablets of co-codamol, are dispensed each month to a population of fewer than two million people. It is extraordinary and it is shocking. It is too much," added Terry.
"There is no question that we are probably over-using co-codamol and it reflects the fact we are poor at pain management. We need to be doing more to alleviate pain in patients. We also need to recognise that these are addictive medicines and that addiction itself will have an impact on that."
Gerard Greene, Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy NI said: “We are appealing to the public to be patient with pharmacy teams as they try to source medicines, and we are appealing once again to the Minister to again prioritise support for the sector so that pharmacies can pay medicine wholesalers.
Turlough Hamill, Gerard Greene and Marie Smith, Community Pharmacy NI; Danny Donnelly MLA outside Stormont on Tuesday
“The stability of the medicines supply chain, while it is a UK-wide issue, is of particular concern to us locally because of Northern Ireland’s small market and additional logistical costs compared to GB.
“We have raised these concerns with the Health Minister and are calling on the Minister and the Northern Ireland Executive to work with the UK Government to strengthen medicines security and supply for Northern Ireland, including ensuring that medicine stock is appropriately ring-fenced, so patients continue to receive the medicines they rely on.
“If this is not addressed, there is a real risk that Northern Ireland will become a lower-priority market for medicine wholesalers, with serious implications for patient safety, continuity of care and the resilience of the wider health system.
"Community Pharmacy NI are advising strongly against patients' self-selecting alternative medicines or altering doses without professional guidance, as this may be clinically inappropriate and, in some cases, harmful."
