Pharmacists suffer from “aggression from patients” due to drug shortages, according to a survey

A survey by the Pharmaceutical Services Bargaining Committee, which represents more than 11,000 pharmacies across the country, found that 67% of its members face supply issues on a daily basis

Calls for government action are growing louder as two in three pharmacists face shortages of medicines every day while access to medicines deteriorates HRT.

Minister of Health Sajid Javid announced on Sunday that he intends to appoint an HRT czar amid a drug shortage that is making menopausal women desperate.

The news comes as many women are reportedly sharing their prescriptions, with some allegedly committing suicide from the debilitating menopausal symptoms they suffer without the drug.

A survey by the Pharmaceutical Services Bargaining Committee, which represents more than 11,000 pharmacies across the country, found that 67% of its members face supply issues on a daily basis.

The survey of more than 1,000 pharmacy workers found that 75% had experienced “patient aggression over drug supply issues.”

Recent figures suggest that the number of HRT prescriptions in the UK has more than doubled in the last five years, but stocks are running low as a manufacturer of a commonly used hormone replacement gel reports supply problems.

Carolyn Harris MP, co-chair of the UK Menopause Taskforce, said Mr Javid should tackle the shortages himself rather than appointing a tsar.

she said BBC On Radio 4’s Today programme, the gel’s shortage has prompted a rush for other HRT products, and she called for regulations to be relaxed to allow fair access.

She said one product, a pill, was only available to women in certain parts of the country, causing it to be “stacked high in warehouses” while those stocking the gel were “empty”.

She said “poor planning” was behind the bottlenecks.

“The company that actually makes this product and the government didn’t anticipate what kind of demand there would be,” she said.

“The problem with menopause is that for far too long women have been unheard, women have been ignored, prescribed and diagnosed with other diseases, and menopause has not even been considered.

“For a woman going through menopause, this hormone replacement therapy is just as important as insulin is for a diabetic.”