From antibiotics to eggs, this is the age of inconvenience. We’d better get used to it

‘Britain is used to being a country where those with the money to pay for it could generally have what they wanted, when they wanted it.’ Photograph: Maureen McLean/REX/Shutterstock

Last week, the Labour MP Darren Jones needed antibiotics for a sick child. It took him and his wife eight attempts in two cities, he reported on Twitter, to find a chemist that could fill the prescription.

Class WhatsApp groups, Mumsnet threads and school-run conversations have been filling up over the past few days with stories like these, thanks to an increase in strep A infections – a common bug that usually just causes a sore throat but can in rare cases be fatal for children – leading to parental panic and GPs writing more prescriptions to be on the safe side. The health secretary, Steve Barclay, insists there are more than enough drugs for everyone, but right now they don’t seem to be reaching the high street fast enough, with parents reporting dashing from pharmacist to pharmacist trying to get a prescription filled.