The struggle to get hold of medication in England is set to get worse

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. The struggle to get hold of medication in England is set to get worse 8 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Chloe Hayward Health reporter Getty Images "It's just terrifying," Chloe says. "I get panic attacks. " The 29-year-old has epilepsy and is struggling to get the drugs she needs to prevent life-threatening seizures.

Her Lamotrigine-based medication is one of hundreds of everyday drugs that are now extremely hard to get hold of in England. She has other medications that she can easily get, but the one that helps her to safely live her life and go to work is the one that she struggles to get access to. "In the last few weeks I haven't been able to get the right medications and my seizures came back.

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I fell and hit my head and have a big scar across my back now from it," Chloe says. Access to medicines in England is at its most fragile point in years. People living with heart conditions, stroke risks, eye infections, bipolar and ADHD - to name just a few - are among those unable to get the medications they depend on.

Supply problems mean people like Chloe are all too often leaving pharmacies up and down the country without the medication they need. Shortages are caused in part by surging global prices. However, the problem is also being exacerbated by a complicated process of funding medicines in the UK.

Chloe, 29, has epilepsy and is struggling to get the drugs she needs The NHS pays pharmacies a fixed price for each medicine it dispenses. Pharmacies are then expected to source the drug for that amount, or less. When the price of a drug rises above what the NHS pays, the medication is placed on the government's price concessions list.

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In April, this hit a record high with 210 named medications. Pharmacy owners will then automatically be reimbursed for drugs on the list at the new price. However, when market prices rise suddenly – often above the original tariff and even above the concession price offered - pharmacies end up dispensing medication at a loss.

It makes it harder for them to buy enough stock for all of their patients and increases the chance that people will face delays or sudden shortages. 'Going on patrol' for medication For patients, it often means rounds of phone calls and anxiety. Chloe says she sometimes sits on the bus for several hours "going on patrol" hunting for the medication she needs.

The Epilepsy Society has already identified three deaths in the last two years where a lack of medication was a contributing factor. The situation is also putting pressure on pharmacy owners. In Shepperton High Street, in Surrey, pharmacist Akash Patel is making up a monthly prescription for another patient with epilepsy.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.