Medicine shortages: Suggested questions

Last updated: Monday, January 28, 2019

When caring for a hospital inpatient taking a medicine that is in short supply or unavailable, you should obviously start by identifying the indication and the exact regimen (dose, frequency, dosage form).

You then need to develop a plan to share with your patient and the team caring for them. As mentioned on the previous page, your Trust may already have a memo or policy describing what to do if it's a long term shortage, or there may be national guidance via the SPS website.

Here are some questions you could think about when managing an individual inpatient:


We've provided some more detail about these questions and why you should ask them on the next page.