Three quarters of family doctors are experiencing debilitating moral distress because they cannot access medicines they know their patients need, a new survey has found.
The impact of the UK-wide medicine shortages on GPs is so bad, one third of GPs who suffer moral distress say it happens on a daily basis. That number doubles when it comes to those who admit it affects them at least once a week.
The survey, conducted for the doctors’ defence organisation MDDUS, shows that almost nine-in-ten GPs believe the shortage of prescription medicine is severely hampering their ability to practice safely.
More than a third (36%) say that medicine shortages have worsened in 2024, with over four-in-five (83%) saying there was a lack of guidance on how to advise patients about the shortages, including timescales for when the medicine they need will become available.
GPs report the scarcest medicines are hormone replacement therapy including oestrogens, progestogens and testosterone (86%), diabetes medicines (GLP-1 RAs such as Ozempic) (80%), epilepsy medicines (42%) and cardiac medicines (30%).
The impact of the medicine shortages doctors face includes seeing their patients’ health deteriorating (45%), being faced with angry or aggressive patients when they can’t have the first-line drugs they need (74%) and feeling anxious about coming to work because of the knowledge some patients will be angry or upset with them (30%).
One GP said: "It is very demoralising working as hard as we can but still being unable to meet patients’ needs due to constraints outside of our control. It makes workdays harder than necessary and mentally exhausting."
The survey also found that 94% of GPs had seen their workload increase due to the medicine shortages. More than half (53%) said they were concerned about the risk of a complaint or claim against them or their practice.
As a consequence of the various problems and complications of medicine shortages, a small but significant minority (17%) of GPs reported the issue is making them consider leaving the medical profession.
One GP stated: “It is very frustrating. I can see it only getting worse rather than better. It makes you just want to give up sometimes.” Another GP said: “It makes you second guess yourself frequently. Clinical decisions are now being influenced by this lack of medications which leads to increased sense of worry.”
While the availability of some medicines has been impacted post Brexit, other significant factors include global supply chain issues and problems created by bureaucratic processes in the NHS.
MDDUS is calling on governments across the UK to urgently investigate better, more compassionate ways for pressurised medics to seek wellbeing help and speak out about their mental health concerns.
Dr. John Holden, chief medical officer at MDDUS, said: “We hear regularly from doctors about the enormous pressures they face every day in the NHS, but the crisis around medicine shortages is making things even worse. It is not uncommon for doctors to contact us when they feel they’re at the very edge of their ability to cope with these pressures.
“Our survey shows these ongoing shortages are leading to a significant number of GPs questioning whether they want to continue in their role at a time when the NHS needs to retain as many doctors as possible to cope with demand.
“It is also disturbing to see how many GPs are suffering from professional and personal moral distress because they feel they’re failing their patients by being unable to access the medicine they know is necessary.
“Regardless of which party forms the government after the general election, the incoming health secretary must urgently prioritise NHS workforce issues – including practitioners’ own mental health and wellbeing – as they get to grips with their new job.”
