The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Pharmacy has said that it has been an year after its inquiry into England's medicine shortages, but the patients continue to face delays and disrupted treatments.
In its follow-up report, published on 15 October, the APPG said the NHS was mainly responding to shortages and not been successful in preventing them.
The group had gathered evidence from the Department of Health and Social Care, manufacturers, wholesalers, pharmacy bodies and patient organisations.
The report said that there has been some progress, including closer collaboration across the supply chain and initiatives such as Project Revive to bring at-risk medicines back to the UK market.
However, it concluded that national activity has not yet translated into a better experience for patients or pharmacy teams, and that most of the structural problems identified in 2025 remain.
Citing the shortages of ADHD medicines as an example, the report said some patients have to wait for a long time simply to have their treatment reviewed, when their usual medicine is unavailable.
The report also pointed out that the Government last year consulted on allowing pharmacists to supply a different strength or formulation of the same medicine when the prescribed version is out of stock. That consultation closed in December 2025, but the Government is yet to publish its response.
The APPG also warns that pharmacies are acting as the system's shock absorber without being adequately resourced,
Pharmacy teams spend significant time every week sourcing medicines and finding alternatives, and are frequently buying medicines that exceeds NHS reimbursements.
The Group's conclusions echo those of the House of Lords Public Services Committee, which has also called for medicines security to be treated as a national priority rather than a reactive operational problem.
The report sets out five priorities for the Government, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England:- Implement pharmacist flexibilities, publish the consultation response and bring forward the changes without delay.
- Improve visibility of shortages and available stock across community pharmacy, hospitals and general practice, including at the point of prescribing.
- Strengthen forecasting, data sharing and supply-chain intelligence so risks are identified before they become shortages.
- Build resilience into pricing, reimbursement and procurement, and measure it — review reimbursement as part of Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework reform and set clear indicators of progress.
- Treat medicines security as a strategic national priority, backed by sustained action across Government, the NHS and industry.
APPG Chair on Pharmacy Sadik Al-Hassan MP, a former pharmacist, said: "There has been welcome progress, and medicines shortages are now rightly seen as a national, system-wide challenge. But for the patient waiting at the counter and the pharmacist on the phone trying to find stock, too little has changed. We cannot allow this to become the new normal.
"The Government has had the pharmacist flexibilities consultation on its desk since December. Publishing that response and getting on with implementation is the single quickest thing it could do to help patients now.
"More broadly, the focus has to shift from managing shortages to preventing them. The test of success is not how many initiatives are announced, but whether patients face fewer avoidable disruptions, pharmacy teams spend less time firefighting, and the system is better able to see trouble coming."
Sector leaders' response
Commenting on the report, the National Pharmacy Association Chief Executive Henry Gregg said: "The APPG are right to recognise the immense challenges medicine shortages continue to pose both patients and pharmacies.
"It should cause deep alarm that we have some of the longest running medicine shortages in history, with Creon and Estradot recently having their title extended as being Britain's longest running medicine shortage on record.
"We agree with the APPG that more can be done to prevent medicine shortages before they have happened and the government should convene a taskforce bringing together the whole supply chain to tackle this.
"The government's response to their consultation on allowing pharmacists to make substitutions if a medicine is not in stock is long overdue and should be published urgently.
"This would prevent patients having to go back to their GP unnecessarily to make small changes to a prescription."
Dr James Davies, Director of Research and Insights at Community Pharmacy England, said: “Today’s APPG report highlights the significant impact medicines shortages continue to have on patients, pharmacy teams and the wider NHS. Community pharmacy teams work tirelessly to resolve supply problems and maintain patient access to treatment.
"However, it is deeply frustrating that pharmacist flexibility reforms remain undelivered despite widespread support and the Government taking many months to reach a decision. At a time when shortages remain commonplace, the pace of progress has not matched the urgency of the challenge.
"The Government must now move quickly to implement pharmacist flexibilities, improve visibility across the supply chain, and ensure reimbursement arrangements reflect market realities. Patients need a system that can respond faster and more effectively when shortages occur.”
