95% of hospital pharmacists across Europe are facing medicine shortages, finds survey
November 2023 - Pharmaceutical
95% of hospital pharmacists across Europe are facing medicine shortages: A survey of hospital pharmacists across Europe has revealed that 95% of them are currently facing shortages of medicines, the same percentage reported in its earlier 2019 survey.
The survey by the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) questioned 1,497 hospital pharmacists across 58 countries, including 90 responses from the UK.
The 'Shortage Survey’ also found that medicine shortages had caused delays in patient care for 59% of respondents, with 43% noting suboptimal treatment outcomes, and 35% reporting that shortages had led to the cancellation of patient care.
Almost all the pharmacists polled (95%) said that like in 2019, medicine shortages continue to be a significant issue in their respective hospitals.
When asked about the most commonly scarce categories of medicines in their hospitals, antimicrobial agents were cited the most, with three-quarters reporting shortages (76%). This was followed by analgesics (43%) and anaesthetic agents (37%). Whereas oncology medicines had ranked as the number two most scarce product in the 2019 survey, they were cited as the fourth in most recent research.
When asked about the potential causes of medicine shortages, the most frequently cited reasons included a global shortage of active pharmaceutical ingredients (77%), manufacturing issues (67%), and supply chain problems (50%).
In response, three-quarters of hospital pharmacists reported implementing clinical changes to adapt to these shortages (76%)
Speaking about the survey findings, Nathan Burley, president of the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists, said: “Medicines shortages are now a daily fact of life in the UK and across Europe, as the survey shows. Shortages bring immense frustration for patients and a substantial increase to clinician workload.
“We must ask why pharmaceutical companies are still utilising ‘just in time’ supply chains for life-saving medicines and why there is so much manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredient outside European borders.”
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