Question reference: S6W-08612
- Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 19 May 2022
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Current status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 1 June 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it first became aware of the reported shortage of hormone replacement therapy medication, and what action was taken to resolve the issue.
Answer
Shortages of medicines are an ongoing part of the day to day management of the NHS. Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) medicines and all other medicines experience supply issues for varying times and for varying reasons, including difficulty in sourcing core ingredients, divestment by pharmaceutical manufacturers and international market volatility. Many shortages are short in nature.
There are over 70 HRT products available in the UK. There have been ongoing supply problems with some products, some are irregular supply while others are a longer term shortage. The Scottish Government first issued (26 August 2019) NHS Circular PCA(P) (2019) 18 on HRT supply issues. Regular Medicines Supply Alert Notice (MSAN) are issued for any HRT product experiencing supply problems. All MSANs are published at SHOW - Scotlands Health On the Web - Publications
A serious of UK wide Serious Shortage Protocols (SSP)were introduced for the following HRT products
Premique® low dose 0.3mg/1.5mg modified release tablets
Oestrogel® pump-pack 750mcg/actuation gel,
Ovestin® 1mg cream,
Sandrena® 0.5mg and 1mg gel sachets,
Lenzetto 1.53mg transdermal spray
Each SSP is individually developed and authorised clinically, to enable community pharmacists and dispensing doctors to dispense a different strength or formulation or alternative medicine or appliances in accordance with the protocol, rather than having to refer prescribing decisions back to the original prescriber. These protocols are time limited. SSPs can be found at SHOW - Scotlands Health On the Web - Publications .
We continue to press the UK Government to seek a lasting resolution to HRT supply issues as quickly as possible.