Explainer
UK medicine shortages, explained
Plain-English answers to the questions people ask when a medicine goes short — and links to the live, source-linked record so you can check any specific one.
What is a UK medicine shortage?
A shortage is when demand for a medicine outstrips available supply so that patients or pharmacies cannot reliably get it. In England, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) formally flags significant ones by issuing a Medicine Supply Notification; NHS Scotland issues its own Medicine Supply Alert Notices.
What is a Medicine Supply Notification (MSN)?
An MSN is the official notice DHSC issues to the NHS when a medicine has a supply problem serious enough to need national action. It names the product, a severity tier, when it was issued, and — often — an expected resupply date and what to do in the meantime. ShortageSignal keeps every one as a dated, source-linked timeline.
What is a Serious Shortage Protocol (SSP)?
An SSP is a legal instrument that lets a community pharmacist supply a specified alternative (a different strength, quantity or product) during a serious shortage, without going back to the prescriber. Each SSP is a signed NHSBSA document; ShortageSignal shows what each one permits, quoted from the signed protocol, and how long it has run.
Why do medicine shortages happen?
Common causes are manufacturing or quality problems, raw-material and API supply issues, a spike in demand, regulatory or discontinuation changes, and distribution or import disruption. A single medicine can go short repeatedly for different reasons — which is why the recurrence history on each medicine page is useful.
How do I check if a medicine is in short supply?
Search the live register or open the medicine's page to see whether a shortage has been declared, when, and any stated expected-back date. Important: the sources publish when a shortage is declared, not when stock returns, so the record is shortage history rather than live availability — for today's stock, ask your pharmacy.
Is the whole of the UK covered?
Coverage is England-first (DHSC notifications and Serious Shortage Protocols), and NHS Scotland's own alerts are covered separately. Northern Ireland's notices re-publish the same DHSC notifications, so they are not listed again to avoid double-counting one shortage as two nations. Wales is not yet included.
Check the live record
Search the shortage register, browse every medicine on record and how often each has gone short, see the Serious Shortage Protocols and what they permit, the Scotland alerts, or the UK Shortage Index. How we source and verify everything is on the methodology page.
Not an official NHS or DHSC service, and not clinical advice — in a shortage, follow the guidance issued to your pharmacy or prescriber.