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Hospitals could face drug shortages during the second wave of Covid because some of the drugs in stock for Brexit have already been used, warned NHS chiefs.
NHS Providers, which represents hospitals in England, said the issues associated with Brexit could spark a “perfect storm” of problems this winter that could undermine care, including flu, bad weather, labor shortages. , a Covid resurgence and an epidemic of burnout among staff. .
“All the problems we feared about Brexit persist. None of them have left because we are in a pandemic. It’s important to remember that drug supply could be compromised, ”said Saffron Cordery, the organization’s deputy executive director.
“What we relied on in Brexit was a supply reserve. I would suggest that we have eaten that reservation due to Covid. We have to think about what the reserves look like. “
He urged ministers to be open about the drug shortage, to help the NHS trusts prepare for them. His comments come after recent reports of a shortage of remdesivir, an antiviral that has been shown to be effective in patients with Covid-19.
“We saw problems with supplies during the first wave of Covid, for example of anesthetic drugs due to high levels of ventilation. As we enter a second surge, obtaining respiratory medications is a particular priority, ”added Cordery.
“The main routes for the supply of medicines have been through Europe, both in terms of bureaucratic procedures and logistics, since they have come from continental Europe to the United Kingdom through ports. All of this could suddenly change with a no-deal Brexit. “
The Department of Health and Welfare declined to say whether any of the drugs from the Brexit arsenal have already been used.
A DHSC spokesperson said: “We have a variety of stocks for a variety of medications, including crucial treatments used to treat Covid-19 patients to help ensure that there is an uninterrupted supply.
“As part of our contingency plans, we have also asked suppliers to stock at least six weeks of drugs, as part of a robust and flexible multi-layered approach that also includes redirecting supply chains and being ‘ready to go. merchant'”.
Surgeons, meanwhile, have called for some hospital beds to be reserved for patients awaiting planned operations, even if a second wave of Covid once again disrupts normal services.
The call from the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCSE) comes amid growing concern for patients who are in the huge backlog of care that piled up in the spring, when the NHS suspended many diagnostic and treatment services, especially surgery.
“Patients awaiting operations cannot be left behind indefinitely by the Covid crisis. Many are in severe pain, and their conditions deteriorate while on the list, ”said Professor Neil Mortensen, president of the university.
“As the virus becomes more prevalent again, there is a real risk of a tsunami of operations canceled unless surgical beds are funded and protected. That means increasing the capacity of the theater and designating beds exclusively for those who need an operation, “he added.
The university said hospitals had not started providing 80% of normal services by the end of September, despite indications from the NHS England that they should. And on Monday, David Nicholson, executive director of NHS England until 2014, warned in the Health Service Journal that it would take years for hospitals to perform a number of pre-pandemic operations again.
An RCSE survey of nearly 1,000 surgeons found that only one in seven (14%) can treat the same number of patients as before the coronavirus crisis, and the maximum dropped from four in one session to two or three, due to to the need for social distancing, periodic cleaning of operating rooms and the time it takes for staff to put on and take off personal protective equipment.
