What doctors can do when pharmacies are out of medication stock

• Medication shortages are becoming more common across the UK, which can make it hard to keep patients' treatment on track
• The right e-prescribing software can provide clinicians with access to a big network of pharmacies, reducing the risk of medication shortages.
• Healistic's nationwide pharmacy network delivers medication directly to patients within 2 hours in London and 24 hours across the wider UK.

You finish a consultation, issue a prescription and move on to your next patient. Then the phone rings; the pharmacy doesn't have the medication in stock.

If that sounds familiar, you're not alone.

Medication shortages have become an increasingly common part of clinical practice across the UK. In fact, according to the NPA, 89% of pharmacies were unable to dispense a medicine at least once a day last year due to supply issues.

While no doctor can control global supply chains or manufacturing delays, there are ways to make these situations far less disruptive for both your patients and your practice.

If you're looking for a platform that helps minimise the risk of medication shortages, why not try Healistic? With a nationwide network of pharmacies and fulfilment and delivery built in, our platform helps your patients access medication more quickly, without relying on a single pharmacy location.

Book a free 10-minute demo with Healistic to see how private e-prescribing could work inside your clinic.

Why do pharmacies keep running out of medication in the UK?

Pharmacies are running out of medication more often because of manufacturing delays, increased demand, supply chain disruption and shortages of pharmaceutical ingredients.

The reality is that today's pharmaceutical supply chain is incredibly complicated. Medicines may rely on ingredients manufactured overseas, specialist facilities or long distribution routes before they ever reach a UK pharmacy.

A delay at any point can quickly lead to shortages across the country.

At the same time, demand for some medicines has grown massively. We've seen shortages affect everything from ADHD medication and HRT to antibiotics, diabetes treatments and weight management medications in recent years.

The frustrating part is that these shortages often arrive with little warning. One week a medicine is available, the next, patients are being told they'll need to wait or try somewhere else.

Unfortunately, it's doctors and pharmacy teams who are left dealing with the consequences.

Suddenly what should have been an easy consultation has turned into another administrative task squeezed into an already busy clinic.

Multiply that across several patients each week and it's easy to see why medication shortages become such a drain on clinicians' time.

They're frustrating for patients, but they're equally frustrating for the people trying to look after them.

Can another pharmacy dispense the prescription?

In many cases, yes. If another pharmacy has stock available, the prescription may still be able to be fulfilled without changing the patient's medication, depending on how it has been issued.

This is why flexibility matters.

Patients often assume that if one pharmacy doesn't have their medication, nowhere does. In reality, stock levels can vary a lot between pharmacies, especially during national shortages.

The easier it is for patients to access another pharmacy, the less likely they are to experience delays or call you up needing another prescription.

Can doctors just prescribe something else?

Sometimes, but not always. Whether a doctor can prescribe an alternative depends on the medication, the patient's condition and whether a substitute is available.

If an equivalent generic medicine is available, changing a prescription may be relatively simple. But medicine isn't always that easy.

Different formulations aren't necessarily interchangeable. Some patients are stable on a particular brand, controlled drugs come with extra prescribing needs, while other medicines may need clinical review before switching.

That's exactly why anything that reduces the number of unnecessary phone calls, rewritten prescriptions and pharmacy queries quickly becomes valuable.

How can doctors reduce delays for patients?

While doctors can't prevent medication shortages, they can make the process far less stressful by using e-prescribing platforms and giving patients access to more options.

Patients rarely expect you to solve a national supply problem, what they do appreciate is knowing there's a clear plan.

Keeping patients updated, checking stock before changing medication where possible and making it easy for prescriptions to reach pharmacies that can dispense them all help improve your service.

Technology can also play an important role.

Modern e-prescription software, like Healistic, allows prescriptions to be issued quickly and securely, connecting directly to pharmacy partners across the UK.

If you're considering moving to digital prescribing, our guides on How Electronic Prescription Services Work in the UK, The Fastest Way to Issue Private Prescriptions and Why Private Clinics Are Switching to E-Prescriptions explain what to expect and why more private clinics are making the switch.

Why does your e-prescription platform matter during medicine shortages?

Not all e-prescription software works in the same way, and the platform you choose can have a real impact on how easily your patients can access medication during shortages.

When prescriptions are tied to a single dispensing location, patients have fewer options if that pharmacy doesn't have stock available.

A platform with access to a wider pharmacy network offers greater flexibility from the outset.

While no software can guarantee medicine availability, giving patients access to more dispensing locations increases the likelihood of them finding the medication they need without spending hours calling different pharmacies or returning to your practice for another prescription.

How Healistic helps practices manage medication shortages

Healistic has been designed to make private prescribing easier, giving clinicians access to a nationwide network of pharmacies through one intuitive e-prescription platform.

Rather than relying on a single pharmacy, Healistic gives patients access to a nationwide network, helping reduce unnecessary delays when local stock issues come up.

Combined with built-in prescription fulfilment and delivery, the platform helps patients access their medication as quickly and conveniently as possible while reducing the amount of admin your team deals with behind the scenes.

For clinicians, that means spending less time chasing prescriptions and more time caring for patients. For reception teams, it means fewer phone calls asking where medication has gone. And for patients, it means a smoother experience at what is often an already stressful time.

If you're looking for a platform that helps minimise the impact of medication shortages, Healistic can help.

Book a demo today to see how our nationwide pharmacy network and electronic prescribing platform can simplify prescribing for your clinic.