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The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has issued Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs) on three HRT medicines to limit dispensing supply to three months. To ensure women across the UK will be able to more reliably access HRT products SSPs has been issued on the supply of Oestrogel, Ovestin cream and Premique Low Dose. DHSC stated, "Women who have a prescription for more than three months but are only able to access three months' supply will not have to pay an additional prescription charge." "This means women will not incur any additional costs. Imposing a three month limit will mean more women are able to access the medication they want. Any woman who is worried about access to HRT or is unable to access HRT should speak to her GP." Recently, Vaccine Taskforce Director General Madelaine McTernan has been appointed to spearhead a new HRT Supply Taskforce, applying lessons learned from the successful procurement seen during the Covid vaccination programme to identify ways to support the HRT supply chain ensuring it can meet both short and long term demand. The move will save time for patients as well as pharmacists and prescribers who are working tirelessly to tackle the covid backlog.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has welcomed the Health Secretary Sajid Javid's plan to appoint Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) tsar to tackle the medicine shortages. On Sunday (April 24) Sajid Javid told the Mail that he planned to tackle the problem (shortage of HRT medicine) by appointing a new HRT tsar with the role modelled on that of Kate Bingham, who successfully led the government's Covid vaccine taskforce. "The difficulties in accessing HRT medicine have unfairly impacted women's mental health," said RPS President, Professor Claire Anderson. "I look forward to working with this new champion for HRT and the Government on how we can better support women's health, building on the positive move to reduce prescription charges for HRT for women." Anderson also stressed that "the Government should now go further and end unfair prescription charges for patients in England altogether."

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid and Madelaine McTernan, head of the HRT supply taskforce, continue to take urgent action to resolve the shortage of HRT medicines by meeting the drug manufacturers and representatives from community pharmacies on Thursday (May 5). In the meeting, manufacturers outlined the steps they're taking to boost supply, and pharmacists shared their experiences on the frontline, as well as sharing their thoughts on wider solutions including improved communications. Aspen Pharmacare, Besins-Healthcare, Gedeon Richter, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Orion, Pfizer, Theramex, Viatris, and representatives from community pharmacies were part of the meeting. As the government confirmed its intention to work with industry to do what is necessary to fix the HRT supply issue, Javis said he wanted to understand the issues facing suppliers and what can be done to address them. "We will leave no stone unturned in our national mission to boost supply of HRT. Along with appointing Madelaine McTernan as head of the HRT supply taskforce to implement lessons learned from the pandemic, and ensuring prescriptions are issued in shorter cycles for now, we are working collectively with the sector to urgently resolve this issue," he commented. The Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies (AIMp) said the meeting discussed 'why we got into this position' and the way forward.

In a recent meeting with the head of the government's HRT Taskforce, Madelaine McTernan, the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) board members gave a gist on the ongoing medicines supply issues in community pharmacy. The meeting, which explored possible solutions to end the nationwide shortage of some Hormone Replacement Therapies, took place on Friday (May 20). Independent contractors Reena Barai and Olivier Picard gave the so-called 'HRT tsar' an overview of the medicines supply issues in community pharmacy and discussed the new Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs) which the government introduced in response to the on-going HRT disruption. Earlier this month, the NPA attended an HRT summit organised by the Department of Health and Social Care, alongside other pharmacy bodies, wholesalers and manufacturers. Health secretary Sajid Javid and pharmacy minister Maria Caulfield said they would be working collaboratively with manufacturers to meet demand and boost supply.

Cutting the red tape that blocks pharmacists to alter the HRT prescription could 'quickly fix' the problem of women unable to access their HRT medicines, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) told Daily Mail. RPS has suggested that allowing pharmacists to prescribe alternative HRT treatment amid nationwide shortage of HRT medicine could help the women who are struggling to access these medicines. Thorrun Govind, chair of the English Pharmacy Board, told MailOnline 'changes in prescription rules need to be changed urgently.' She added, 'For the pharmacists on the ground, they need the ability to get rid of this bureaucracy. When you think about it - who's best able to offer an alternative - that tends to be the pharmacist.' MailOnline quoted Professor Claire Anderson, president of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, as said, 'We welcome the Health Secretary meeting with key suppliers and manufacturers to find solutions to the current shortages. But cutting the red tape holding pharmacists back could provide a 'quick fix' that would allow 'women to access their HRT medicines more speedily'.

To help manage the ongoing supply disruptions, the health regulators have extended to 28 October 2022, serious shortage protocols (SSPs) for 12 of the 13 hormone replacement therapies (HRT). "The only HRT SSP set to expire on 29 July 2022 is for SSP021 Premique low dose 0.3mg/1.5mg modified-release tablets. After 29 July, there will be no need to restrict quantities of Premique tablets as its supply situation has now stabilised," said PSNC. In addition, the dose equivalence advice and endorsement guidance for SSP024 and SSP025 have been updated. SSP024 and SSP025 have been updated by DHSC to provide greater clarity to pharmacists on the dose equivalences to determine the appropriate quantity to supply. Pharmacists are asked to refer to the latest SSP versions and endorsement guidance published on NHSBSA's website.

Pharmacists can dispense Paracetamol 120mg suppositories in accordance with the prescription, as the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has confirmed that sufficient stocks are available to meet normal demand. This means the Serious Shortage Protocol - SSP033 - for Paracetamol 120mg suppositories has now expired since 26 August 2022. Top tips for SSP claims NHSBSA advise that contractors must follow the specific endorsement guidance issued with each SSP and endorsements should be clear and unambiguous - NHSBSA processing staff must be able to determine what has been supplied. NHSBSA have published information on common SSP endorsing errors they see when processing claims. Any paper prescriptions with SSP claims need to be placed in the red separator provided by the NHSBSA. Although an SSP cannot be used outside its period of validity, claims can be submitted up to three calendar months after expiry or withdrawal of the SSP to help manage any owings for other items issued on the same prescription form. For example, for SSP033 Paracetamol 120mg suppositories, which expires at 23.59pm on Friday 26 August 2022, the NHSBSA would continue to look for the "SSP" endorsement on prescriptions for Paracetamol 120mg suppositories that are submitted with the August batch (submitted by 5 September), September batch (submitted by 5 October) and October batch (submitted by 5 November).