Professor John Robertson OBA
In the Guardian today, the above and:
Drug companies notified the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) about disruptions to supply 1,938 times during last year – the highest number since the 1,967 seen in 2021. Medications to treat epilepsy and cystic fibrosis are among those that pharmacists are finding it hard or impossible to get hold of, creating risks for patients’ health. The figures have emerged in a new report by the Nuffield Trust health thinktank, which obtained them under freedom of information laws from the DHSC, which oversees the availability of drugs UK-wide.
The above makes no mention of Scotland. Searching for reports of shortages in Scotland gets the same story of shortages in England plus, this intriguing suggestion:
One potential solution lies in affording community pharmacy greater latitude in altering prescriptions – a practice that could save immense amounts of NHS funds and ease the mounting pressure on pharmacy resources.
A change to medicines legislation is needed to enable pharmacists to speed up access to medicines. This would allow pharmacists to make minor adjustments to prescriptions to help alleviate some of the issues for patients and reduce burdens on primary care – with the added benefit of reducing the workload of GPs.
Pharmacists in hospital, and in community pharmacies in Scotland, already routinely alter prescriptions for the benefit of patients.
Also, in the same journal in August 2023:
Scotland’s model for pharmacy offers lessons for England’s future
As pharmacies in Scotland receive renewed government backing, Steve Anderson takes a look at the future of English pharmacy against the backdrop of a damning new report.
I must commend Scotland’s Pharmacy First model, which has set the standard for the delivery of patient services through pharmacies. With PHOENIX’s presence in 29 European countries, I can see that Scotland’s approach stands out for its reach and ambition. The key, however, to its success has been borne out of years of government investment and commitment to maintain a financially viable network based upon sustainable long-term funding.
Unlike in England, where community pharmacies have faced cumulative funding cuts of more than £750 million per year, Scotland’s investment has allowed pharmacies to focus on patient care without the constant financial pressures. Community pharmacies should not be viewed as disposable figures on a spreadsheet. Our pharmacy teams provide vital care in our communities, improving healthcare outcomes and helping to manage long-term conditions.
If England wishes to develop its own Pharmacy First approach, that is a key lesson it must learn. If Scotland had failed to offer a fair funding commitment to pharmacy, politicians in England would have been forgiven for thinking they could get away with a cut-price Pharmacy First model from a steadily shrinking number of pharmacies.
In Scotland, the outlook on community pharmacy is that it plays a crucial role in enhancinghealthcare outcomes and increasing patient access to essential care. Community pharmacies are an important part of the overall system, but one that clearly differs from that of a GP or hospital.
Community pharmacies do have the potential to reduce pressures on the NHS, particularly as healthcare demands increase, but further action is essential to enable community pharmacy to play an enhanced role delivering more patient care services. While funding is vital, the issue is not exclusively based on money.
The lesson from Scotland could not be clearer: invest in a robust and sustainable pharmacy network that increases patient access to essential NHS care. This in turn will reduce cost and demand pressures on other parts of the NHS, improving patient satisfaction and health outcomes.
Imagine Reporting Scotland wondering what they can make of the above?
Talking-up Scotland 
Brexit has had many negative impacts in the UK.
Unfortunately the two main UK parties were and still are more focused on trying to out Brexit each other to care about it’s damaging consequences, hence why Reeves, Kendall, Starmer are currently punishing the “many” to protect the “few”.
“Scotland’s model for pharmacy offers lessons for England’s future“
Now that is a news story that will never be touched by the BBC Reporting Scotland news team as they are way too consumed in trying to convince us that Scotland should follow England, in everything, especially all of the things that have failed there.
“The lesson from Scotland could not be clearer: invest in a robust and sustainable pharmacy network that increases patient access to essential NHS care“
“This in turn will reduce cost and demand pressures on other parts of the NHS, improving patient satisfaction and health outcomes“
Woah…in the name o the wee man….steady on.
This is Twilight Zone stuff surely, or at least akin to a parallel Universe declaration !
Has no one told them that the message is always to be that the SNP have destroyed the Scottish NHS, which includes everything that is connected to it as a Health system, like say , Pharmacies.
Where many assumptions are to be made, as no comparisons by the BBC Scotland news teams are ever done with other UK nation’s NHS services, including the Pharmacy Service within the UK , so incorrectly the Scottish public are to always think that Scotland is the worst NHS service in the UK !
The better Scottish Pharmacy service is hushed up by BBC Scotland as that does not fit into the narrative that the BBC Scotland news teams are constantly determined to promote as (their) reality which is that ‘Scotland is Sh***’ and the SNP are bad, really really bad.
The BBC Scotland narrative is one that always favour the opinions , the position and opposing arguments of all of the opposition parties in Scotland,.
Also the BBC news teams in Scotland always have room to promote the #SNPBAD statements from UK politicians as well.
As whenever they , as UK politicians, come up here on a wee visit to check out what else they can steal from Scotland and also to check out those things they have already stolen from us , such as our Scottish resources or our Scottish food and drink, while their subliminal and sometimes even direct message is one that is always telling Scotland that we need them more than they need us.
Have the BBC Reporting Scotland news teams ever said anything that is positive that they connect to the SNP, if they must announce anything that is positive then they frame it in such a way that those who oppose it , as an SNP incentive, then dominate that news story. The positivity then gets lost or rather it morphs into yet another #SNPBAD.
Favoured terms and words used by BBC Reporting Scotland team include…. But, however, critics say, the opposition parties say and of course their OTT and fake descriptions that include words such as fiasco, catastrophe and scandal.
So how about this:
‘Scotland’s Pharmacy service is far better and more organised than England’s, this is a “catastrophe” for BBC Reporting Scotland and it would be a “fiasco” for the BBC if it were to be widely reported elsewhere in Scotland via other media. Indeed for the BBC that would be a “Scandal”, “but” not for the SNP , just for the BBC, in their failure to highlight it. “However” this would confirm yet again how biased the BBC news team were in Scotland, indeed “some critics say” they have many examples of their BBC bias towards the “opposition parties” and also against the SNP.
That’s the real “news where we are” regarding the BBC Scotland news teams, surely ?
Vote SNP in 2026 as a first step to stop this from continuing to happen to Scotland, where eventually we may finally get the ‘actual real news where we are’, from a real Scottish’ televised media.
Liz S
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