Menopause Mandate backs MP Carolyn Harris HRT Solution
MENOPAUSE MANDATE BACKS MP CAROLYN HARRIS'S SUGGESTION THAT THE SOLUTION TO HRT SHORTAGES IS ON OUR OWN SHORES
'Let's use the drugs we already have'
MP Carolyn Harris has written to the Secretary of State, Sajid Javid, outlining a solution to the current crippling HRT shortages, and expressing concerns about importing unlicensed medication from outside the UK.
She points out that there is existing and MHRA licensed stock currently in UK warehouses, but it can't be released because of bureaucracy.
'This could be in pharmacies in a matter of days, but is currently on warehouse shelves because it's not listed on local formularies.
(There are two types of formulary, the British National Formulary and the local ones. Any medicine passed by the MHRA can be prescribed anywhere in the UK, but a doctor's database will only show what has been passed locally.)
'We are asking that HRT products are made automatically available on the local formulary so that doctors know they are available,' says Harris.
'Allowing medical professionals across the country to prescribe medication from a list of all licensed products would surely expedite distribution and ultimately allow all those who need HRT to receive it quickly and easily.'
She welcomes the meetings which have taken place with manufacturers and pharmacies, but is concerned about the suggestion that unlicensed products might be imported from abroad.
'Given that we hold the stock on our own shores, surely we should look closer to home for the solution.'
We understand that potentially this stock might include older forms of HRT, which are not those currently in short supply.
Harris also says that she is asking that pharmacists be given the autonomy to change HRT prescriptions to the most suitable alternative available. 'We need to stop this ping pong between GP and pharmacist.'
MARIELLA FROSTRUP, presenter and writer, says: 'It is madness that we have HRT stock in this country which can't be released because of box-ticking. Women are suffering, and the shortages urgently need resolving.'
PROFESSOR HENRIETTA BOWDEN-JONES OBE, President of Psychiatry at the Royal Society of Medicine, says: 'What we are really saying is that we want an online stock availability of the HRT that can be accessed by all pharmacies and can deliver nationally.'
For more information or Menopause Mandate comments, please contact Laura Biggs at laura.biggs@intuitiveevents.co.uk