After aspirin, the UK is now facing a shortage of co-codamol, a painkiller used to provide relief for conditions ranging from wisdom tooth removal to fractures.
More than 1.25 million doses of co-codamol were prescribed a month in the UK, and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) issued a medicine supply notification for co-codamol 30mg/500mg tablets.
The DHSC has warned that supplies of co-codamol, a combination of paracetamol and codeine, will remain limited from early February 2026 until early June.
The government has banned the export of co-codamol 30mg/500mg tablets on January 28.
NHS providers across the UK have highlighted the shortage.
NHS Grampian has said, "Other types of co-codamol 30/500 (capsules, soluble tablets, different strengths) cannot fully meet demand so we cannot simply switch you to another type of co-codamol."
It has advised patients to check stocks of co-codamol at home and use them before ordering more.
Order co-codamol when it is actually needed and be open to alternative pain medicine.
Co-codamol, a combination of paracetamol and codeine, is a commonly prescribed painkiller, with around 1.25 million items dispensed monthly in 2025.
In her LinkedIn post, Debra Ainge from the research firm iEthico has stated, "Data was already signalling stress in the co-codamol 30mg/500mg market as far back as May 2025 - months before the formal supply notification.
"By the time the medicine supply notification was issued, this was no longer a sudden event - it was the predictable outcome of sustained pressure.
"Shortages don’t come out of nowhere. They arrive after the warnings have been ignored."
The National Pharmacy Association (NPA), which represents around 6,000 independent community pharmacies, has highlighted widespread difficulties in obtaining 30mg and 500mg tablets, leading to a knock-on effect on other dosages.
NPA chair Olivier Picard has confirmed that pharmacies are struggling to order supplies of some strengths of co-codamol.
He told Pharmacy Business, "Community pharmacies are increasingly on the frontline of medicines shortages, and current difficulties sourcing certain co-codamol strengths highlight the scale of the challenge.
"Teams like mine and many of our members at the NPA are doing everything possible to safeguard patient access, but recurring supply disruption and financial pressures on medicines purchasing are placing the system under significant strain.
"A more responsive policy framework, particularly greater flexibility for pharmacists to make safe substitutions, would make an immediate difference for both patients and the wider NHS."
Community Pharmacy NI had earlier warned of an imminent risk to the supply of essential medicines, including co-codamol 30/500mg, in Northern Ireland.
A House of Lords public services committee had recently called for treating medicine security as a national security issue, and wants the government to strengthen the supply chains.
