It has been estimated that 5 million people in the UK have had to visit more than one pharmacy to get prescription medicines over the past year.

According to AI-powered supply chain management platform 7bridges, around 3.7 million people have been forced to leave their local area and travel as far as 10 miles to collect their medicines. Over one in ten adults (11 per cent) said they had been unable to get hold of prescription medicines at their local pharmacy. The figure rises to 17 per cent in Greater London. 

With patients having to travel increasingly far to find a pharmacy to have their prescriptions fulfilled, patience is being stretched, claims 7bridges. Nearly half (47 per cent) of those surveyed agreed with the statement that businesses could be doing more to prevent the level of supply chain disruption the UK is experiencing.

A quarter (25 per cent) believed pharmacies are most affected by current supply chain issues, despite the food shortages hitting consumers earlier in the year. 

When asked how they feel when pharmacies continue to cite supply chain issues for their shortages, over one in five (21 per cent) said “let down”. Over one in ten (11 per cent) said they were “angry”.

Philip Ashton, chief executive and co-founder of 7bridges, commented: “When it comes to people’s prescriptions... ensuring easy access is a must. The sector must embrace technology that can provide both visibility across the interconnected system and real-time actionable insights to address disruptions in the supply chain. Operational resilience, when it comes to medicines, is not optional.”