Common painkillers may soon be rationed in Northern Ireland due to a growing shortage, pharmacists warn MLAs. The industry body Community Pharmacy NI has alerted MLAs to a shortage of common medicines, including co-codamol 30/500mg, which is likely to persist for several months. Without urgent intervention, Northern Ireland risks more frequent and severe disruptions in the coming weeks. Approximately 50,000 packs of co-codamol, equivalent to around 5 million tablets, are dispensed monthly to a population of fewer than 2 million people. Community pharmacies may be forced to ration supplies, affecting 50 to 100 patients per pharmacy, to ensure a steady supply of vital medicines. This situation is not isolated, as another shortage affects low-dose, dissolvable aspirin, primarily used as an anti-platelet medicine for stroke or heart attack risk patients. Chemists are sourcing over 100 common medicine lines in short supply. The current shortages, driven by global manufacturing and supply chain constraints, pose significant medicines security and supply concerns in Northern Ireland. This has direct implications for patient safety and puts pressure on GPs, out-of-hours services, and the health system. Gerard Greene, Chief Executive of Community Pharmacy NI, emphasizes the sustained and increasing pressure on community pharmacies. The gap between medicine costs and reimbursement is widening, and pharmacies struggle to pay wholesalers and secure sufficient supplies of common medicines. This issue is exacerbated by the need for pharmacies to source medicines under severe constraints, leading to growing shortages of other commonly prescribed medicines. Pharmacists have raised concerns with the Health Minister and are calling on the Minister and the NI Executive to collaborate with the UK Government to strengthen medicines security and supply. They advocate for ring-fencing medicine stock to ensure patients continue receiving essential medicines. If not addressed, Northern Ireland may become a lower-priority market for medicine wholesalers, posing risks to patient safety, care continuity, and the health system's resilience. Community Pharmacy NI advises patients against self-medicating or altering doses without professional guidance, as this can be clinically inappropriate and harmful. The All-Party Group urges the Department of Health to treat this as an urgent patient safety and system resilience issue, setting a clear plan to stabilize community pharmacy funding and cash flow. They also want practical mechanisms to reduce operational burdens caused by shortages, ensuring pharmacies can continue securing medicines for patients.
