Officials have warned of a serious shortage of a common blood pressure medicine across the UK. A “serious shortage protocol” notice has been issued for ramipril 1.25mg capsules, which says patients can only get one month’s worth of supplies at a time. The medication, which can be taken as tablets, capsules or as a liquid, works by widening the blood vessels and making it easier for the heart to pump blood around the body.
The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) said three million items of ramipril are prescribed every month in England. NPA chairman Olivier Picard said: “We are concerned by this recent shortage, with a number of pharmacies being unable to order some strengths of ramipril as well as seeing the cost soar in recent weeks, in instances where stock can be found.
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“Millions of patients rely on ramipril and although there are alternative medicines available, supplies of these must be managed carefully by the Government to ensure subsequent demand can be met.
“The Government should allow pharmacists to make substitutions to ramipril prescriptions to ensure patients do not have to go back to their GP to find an alternative.
“Pharmacies are increasingly facing supply problems affecting everyday medicines on which millions rely every day.”
Ramipril is widely used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure, and prescribed after a heart attack to reduce the risk of suffering another.
Mr Picard said the medicine supply chain was “extremely complex” but escalating problems with a wide range of drugs is “extremely worrying for patients and heartbreaking for pharmacists who go to great lengths to ensure they don’t turn them away”.
He added: “Fragility in the global supply chain is worsened by international instability and the fact that long term under-funding of pharmacies has driven down the price for medicines in the UK to unsustainable levels.”
Professor Ian Maidment, an expert in clinical pharmacy at Aston University, said the protocol applied across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
He added: “Ramipril is an Ace (Angiotensin-converting enzyme) inhibitor and there are other Ace inhibitors available.
“It is vital that patients discuss any concerns with their community pharmacy team or GPs or pharmacy staff working in their GP surgery, but the key message is that there are alternatives.
“These supply issues are challenging for primary care to manage impacting on their overall workload.”