Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress she has made on giving community pharmacists the ability to amend prescriptions in response to medicines shortages.

The Government has consulted on proposals that would enable community pharmacists, in certain circumstances, to supply an alternative strength and/or formulation of a prescribed medicine without obtaining a new prescription. However, the proposed flexibilities would not apply, except in limited exceptions, when there is a known serious shortage of the medicine prescribed or the alternative to be supplied. This is to avoid the risk of causing knock-on shortages and disruption to the medicine supply chain. The consultation, ‘Enabling pharmacist flexibilities when dispensing medicines’, closed in December 2025 and the Government intends to publish its response in the coming weeks. Further information on the consultation is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/enabling-pharmacist-flexibilities-when-dispensing-medicines/enabling-pharmacist-flexibilities-when-dispensing-medicines

Separately, Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs) remain available to manage and mitigate shortages of medicines. An SSP enables a community pharmacist to supply a specified medicine in accordance with a protocol, without the patient needing to return to the prescriber.