62% ran short of aspirin. 92% had no plan for what to do next
What happened
Freedom of information replies from NHS trusts in England show that many have struggled to get hold of three very ordinary medicines. The findings were published on Tuesday 29 September 2026 by the Guardian. They come from Dr Rodolfo Catena, an associate professor in operations and supply chain management at UCL's Global Business School for Health. He sent freedom of information requests to 184 NHS trusts, asking about their stock of aspirin, co-codamol and ramipril. Sixty trusts replied. Among those that answered: - Aspirin: 26 of the 42 trusts that responded on this drug (62%) had supply disruption between last December and March. - Co-codamol, a painkiller made of paracetamol and codeine: 13 of 42 trusts (31%) ran short. - Ramipril, a common blood pressure tablet: 7 of 43 trusts (16%) could not get enough. Some gaps lasted a long time. York and Scarborough NHS trust reported co-codamol supplies disrupted since May 2025. Royal Wolverhampton NHS trust struggled to get enough for ten months, between October 2025 and August 2026. Kent Community Health NHS trust ran short of all three. Frimley Health NHS trust paid higher prices for ramipril to keep its supply going. Two other numbers stand out. Of the trusts that replied, 92% said they had no contingency plan for supply problems. And 82% said they had not reported the shortages they faced to NHS England. A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said it regularly speaks to NHS trusts about medicine availability and is "aware that ramipril is in limited supply, which is why we issued serious shortage protocols so patients in the UK can still get the medication they need". It added that it is working with suppliers on co-codamol and aspirin too, and that "the vast majority of the UK's licensed medicines are in good supply". A spokesperson for the Society for Acute Medicine said shortages can disrupt treatment and add pressure for clinical and pharmacy teams. One point of accuracy: the story was reported under a headline about paracetamol, but the medicine studied was co-codamol, which contains paracetamol and codeine. Plain paracetamol was not one of the three drugs checked.
Why this matters
These are not unusual or specialist drugs. They are some of the most commonly dispensed medicines in the country. Low-dose aspirin is taken daily by many people after a heart attack or a stroke, to make a clot less likely. Ramipril lowers blood pressure and protects the heart and kidneys. Co-codamol is used for pain that ordinary paracetamol has not settled. Missing a dose of a painkiller is uncomfortable. Missing weeks of a blood pressure tablet is a different thing. Blood pressure medicines work quietly, over years. You do not feel them working, and you may not feel it when they stop. That is why gaps in supply are worth taking seriously, even when nobody becomes ill straight away. There is a second issue underneath the first. If 82% of the trusts that answered had not told NHS England about their shortages, the national picture may look better than the real one. You cannot plan around a problem you cannot see. That is a supply chain point as much as a medical one, which is why the research came from a supply chain expert rather than a doctor.
What the evidence actually says
It is worth being careful with these numbers, because the study has real limits. Only 60 of 184 trusts replied, about a third. The replies are what each trust said about itself, and "disruption" may not have meant the same thing in every pharmacy department. The figures also cover different date ranges for different drugs. This is a snapshot, not a full count of the NHS. Crucially, a hospital running short does not mean patients went without. Hospital pharmacies routinely swap a brand, a strength or a formulation to keep treatment going. That work is usually invisible to the patient, and it is a large part of why shortages rarely turn into harm. But the snapshot does not stand alone, and that is what makes it credible. Two independent records point the same way. First, the official one. The NHS Business Services Authority publishes every Serious Shortage Protocol in force. An SSP is issued when the Department of Health and Social Care decides there is a serious shortage of a medicine, and it lets a community pharmacist supply a different strength, quantity or product without sending you back to your GP. SSP087 currently covers ramipril 1.25mg capsules and runs from 22 April 2026 to 30 October 2026. Others have run far longer: the protocols for Creon, a pancreatic enzyme medicine, have been in place since May 2024, and those for Estradot HRT patches since December 2024. This is not a survey. It is a live government list, and anyone can check it. Second, the view from the counter. In June 2026 the National Pharmacy Association surveyed its members and reported that 98% of pharmacies had seen patients visiting several pharmacies in one day to find a prescription, 89% had been unable to dispense a medicine at least once a day, and 96% felt the situation posed a serious risk to patient safety. Olivier Picard, the NPA's chair, said shortages were becoming more frequent and lasting longer. One imperfect FOI study, one official register, one professional survey, all pointing the same way. The honest summary: supply of some everyday medicines has become less reliable, pharmacy teams are absorbing most of the disruption, and the reporting of it upwards is patchy.
Qurexa perspective
We should be straightforward about this, because it would be easy not to be. Qurexa delivers prescriptions and supports people to take their medicines on time across Lincolnshire. A delivery service cannot create stock that does not exist. If a medicine is genuinely unavailable from wholesalers, no amount of good logistics will conjure it up, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something. What we do see is that supply problems usually reach patients as delay rather than a flat no. A pharmacy with a few days' warning can often source the item, order a different strength, or speak to your prescriber before you run out. A pharmacy that finds out on the day your last tablet is gone has far fewer options. So the most useful thing in this story is not about us at all. It is about timing.
Practical advice
None of this is a reason to panic, and none of it is a reason to change your medicines on your own. A few steps do help: 1. Order repeat prescriptions early. Request them when you have seven to ten days left, not on your last day. 2. Never stop a blood pressure medicine such as ramipril on your own. If you cannot get it, speak to your pharmacist or GP that week. Stopping suddenly can push your blood pressure up. 3. Ask the pharmacy first. Under a Serious Shortage Protocol, your pharmacist may be able to hand you a different strength or quantity straight away, without you going back to the GP. 4. If they are short, ask what the plan is. There is often a route through: a different brand, a different strength made up to the same dose, or a partial supply now with the rest to follow. 5. Watch your paracetamol total. Co-codamol already contains paracetamol. Do not take extra on top without checking with a pharmacist. 6. Do not buy prescription medicines from websites you cannot verify. Shortages are exactly when unsafe and fake supplies appear. A legitimate UK online pharmacy is registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council. 7. Keep a written list of what you take, with doses. It makes every one of these conversations faster. Your pharmacist is free to talk to, needs no appointment, and deals with this every day.
What to know
Freedom of information replies from 60 NHS trusts in England suggest many have struggled to get aspirin, co-codamol and ramipril, with 62% of responding trusts reporting disrupted aspirin supply. Most had no contingency plan, and most had not told NHS England. The study is a partial snapshot, but it matches the government's own Serious Shortage Protocol register and a pharmacy survey from earlier this year. For most people, most of the time, this will show up as a short delay rather than an empty cupboard. The practical response is ordering repeat prescriptions in good time, asking your pharmacist early if something is unavailable, and never stopping a regular medicine without advice. Sources: The Guardian, "Hospitals in England hit by shortages of common drugs such as paracetamol" by Denis Campbell, 29 September 2026, https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/sep/29/hospitals-in-england-hit-by-shortages-of-common-drugs-such-as-paracetamol; NHS Business Services Authority, "Serious shortage protocols (SSPs)", accessed 29 September 2026, https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/pharmacies-gp-practices-and-appliance-contractors/serious-shortage-protocols-ssps; The Pharmacist, "'Most severe' medicine shortages ever pose serious patient safety risk, health leaders warn", 18 June 2026, https://www.thepharmacist.co.uk/community/most-severe-medicine-shortages-ever-pose-serious-patient-safety-risk-health-leaders-warn/; National Pharmacy Association, "Medicine shortages 'most severe' on record, health leaders warn", June 2026, https://www.npa.co.uk/news/2026/june/medicine-shortages-most-severe-on-record-health-leaders-warn/ This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional. Do not start, stop or change any medicine because of something you have read here. If you cannot get a medicine you take regularly, speak to your pharmacist or GP.
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