Medication shortages

[MrsAvocet]

Not sure what I want to achieve by posting to be honest, probably just to share my shock with someone as there's nobody in at home. But how the hell did we get to the situation where it is so difficult to get hold of basic drugs?
I dropped in at our doctors tonight to pick up DS's repeat prescription. I put the request in on Friday and I'd normally expect it to be ready before now but I had left it til today as I was going to something nearby anyway. It's a very big surgery, fairly recently formed from the merger of several smaller practices,and has it's own pharmacy with extended opening hours in the building. So we are not talking tiny street corner pharmacy here.
There was a queue of 4 or 5 people in front of me and every single one of them was being told that at least some of their prescription was unavailable. I felt pretty confident though. Nothing unusual in my request, just his usual asthma meds. He takes 2 inhalers and a tablet. Tonight they had none of them and don't know when they will do. I was polite, as I know that wherever the fault lies it's not with the young lad on the till, but inside I was thinking "Bloody hell, this is the biggest pharmacy in the town and you don't have a single ventolin inhaler in stock, that's absolutely shameful". Fortunately DS hasn't run out yet as i ordered slightly early, so hopefully they will arrive in time, but his asthma is quite brittle and if he runs out of his preventers he will become unwell.
I also noticed there was a poster up advertising an "Antibiotic Amnesty". Basically if you have any antibiotics at home that you didn't finish the course of, please bring them back - I presume to help combat the shortage. Sensible in a way, but WTAF...are people really going to be dispensed drugs made up of half used packets that the pharmacist has no knowledge of how have been stored etc? I thought that was the whole reason why unused drugs couldn't be dispensed to another person? I suppose it better than nothing, but it really shocked me.
Is this happening everywhere?

Pharmacies cannot reissue medication that has been previously issued to someone else. The amnesty is just to get back all the odd bits and stop idiots taking them at a later date
There are a lot of medication shortages at the moment but pharmaceuticals and the chemicals they are made from are often sourced, manufactured, packaged, labeled, transported and stored in worldwide locations and the world is a turbulent place

The amnesty is to get drugs back for safe disposal. They will not be reissued.

There are periodic interruptions in supply of meds. In itself it's not unusual.

But there are very high levels of sickness (not just in UK) and so demand is very high, leading to more interruptions. The levels of covid in China are a concern, because if their pharmaceuticals drop out of the global market (because manufacturing is disrupted by large scale sick absences) then other suppliers cannot make up the shortfall. That has an impact even in countries which don't buy directly from China (as Asian countries will turn to India, and that will reduce their exports to Europe)

I had to try 5 big pharmacies to get dioralyte for my toddlers last week - finally managed to get some after 2 days of searching

Also tried to get treatment for conjunctivitis - also none available

It’s been like this for a while. A few years ago, you couldn’t get pink Migraleve for love nor money. Kolanticon Gel has been OOS for about a year too. Never any updates or reasons either. There isn’t a direct like for like replacement either.

My partner's been waiting almost two weeks for the pharmacy to get more stock of his testosterone prescription. Had he not got a bit leftover he's be screwed as operating plant machinery and driving trucks isn't really something you want to do whilst feeling like death warmed up.

Yup, I am having problems getting my little one's antibiotic script filled, this is the second month I have had to ring round trying to find a chemist with it in stock.

My prescribed HRT has been available once since 2016. I get substitutes that I have to adapt to.

Shit. I'm scared now, if I can't get my Ventolin I'll be in a very serious situation.

For the first time ever this week I was unable to get the antibiotics my GP prescribed me, I had to try a different chemist and luckily they had them. I did panic though.

With TRT there's only Sustanon (which my partner takes) or Nebido. The latter (although achieving the same end goal) isn't a direct substitute as it takes ten weeks to build up in the body and become effective.

I know this is an older thread - but have you tried ordering via an online doctor? I’m wondering if it’s worth ordering a back up inhaler and if the GP’s are advised?