HRT Shortages?

Copy and paste this text and email it to them. Just add your MP’s name and your name:

Dear [MP’s name],

I am writing to you as your constituent to ask for your support in encouraging the Government to resolve the current Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) shortages that are seriously impacting the lives of menopausal women up and down the country.

Menopause is the process women go through as their menstrual cycles come to an end and hormone levels drop. The average age a woman enters menopause is 51, although for some in can be much younger, and symptoms can range from mild to totally debilitating, with women most commonly experiencing brain fog, hot flushes, and anxiety.

Due to the campaigning of experts, celebrities and activists in the women’s health space, more women than ever are breaking down the stigma around the menopause. But with this much needed awakening has come a surge in demand for treatment, as the number of women in the UK prescribed HRT has increased by 1.1 million in the last 7 years.  2.5 million women across the country now rely on it to treat their menopause symptoms.

Since the start of 2022 and Davina McCall’s documentary ‘Sex, Myths and the Menopause’ some of the most popular HRT products have been intermittently in short supply for months on end. In response to this, the Government appointed Madeline McTernan to lead a taskforce to tackle the shortages in April 2022. Rationing was implemented and Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs) put in place, allowing pharmacists to automatically distribute alternatives for products out-of-stock without the patient returning to their GP for an amended prescription.

Four months later, Ms McTernan left her role, making encouraging noises that normality was expected to resume imminently. Since then, some of the most popular HRT products have remained in short supply and rationing continues to be used sporadically.

I am contacting you because the HRT product [insert HRT product name] I rely upon to alleviate my menopause symptoms is in short supply. It is hard to believe that in the 21st century women like me are visiting multiple pharmacies trying to track down treatment.

Having to find alternative HRT products due to shortages is incredibly disruptive. Some women are allergic or intolerant to products, others will have precise dosages that work for them. The shortages are also putting women’s health at risk, particularly those who are unable to access their progesterone product and are continuing to take their oestrogen unopposed.

Please make representations on my behalf, and on behalf of all of your constituents affected by this.  We need the Government to prioritise this area of women’s health, and to work with the pharmaceutical suppliers to ensure that supply of HRT meets demand urgently.

Thank you for your help with this matter and I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely