A child being given a spoonful of medicine
(Picture: PA)Wholesalers have been told to supply more antibiotics following the rise in Strep A cases.
High rates of Strep A infection and scarlet fever have led to a surge in demand for penicillin and other antibiotics, with shortages reported by many pharmacies across the country.
While there is no “supplier shortage” nationally of antibiotics, the Department of Health has admitted that there are problems getting medicines to chemists quickly enough.
Sir Stephen Powis, medical director of NHS England, has said that wholesalers have been told to ramp up supplies.
He told BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: "We have plenty of antibiotics. We have asked people to prescribe them a little bit earlier and the Government is working with wholesalers.
"The supply chain works really well, I expect we will be seeing those supplies coming out to pharmacies as we speak."
It follows reports that drug companies have faced criticism for hiking prices of antiobiotics during the Strep A outbreak.
Pharmacies say they are losing thousands of pounds a week on the cost of the drugs as they can only recoup a fraction of the price from the NHS.
Dervis Gurol, who runs the Healthy-U Pharmacy near Brighton, was charged £11 for a penicillin mixture for which he expects he will get just over £2 from the NHS.
He told The Sunday Times: “We don’t have any alternative. My loss this week just on antibiotics is over £3,000. Some wholesalers were charging £11.78 for a bottle and we get reimbursed at £2.08.
“Most of us are in a situation where we’re using our own money to operate and trying to absorb these costs that should be absorbed by the NHS. The Department of Health is refusing to do anything.”
Penicillin V, the first choice to treat Strep A infections, is available in both liquid suspension form, which is prescribed for children, and in tablet dosages but there has been a sharp increase in demand in the past week which has meant that stocks in wholesalers have been depleted very quickly.
The Department of Health said it is in urgent talks with manufacturers and wholesalers to “understand availability of stocks and explore what can be done to expedite deliveries, and bring forward more stock”.
The Government has confirmed there is a “short-term issue” with the supply of the oral sugar suspension of amoxicillin, typically given to children instead of tablets, but that the sugar-free product is available.
