Recent disruptions to the supply of radioisotopes has prompted Alliance Medical Radiopharmacy to write to customersapologising “to all patients affected” and recognising the “anxiety and upset that a delay can cause.”
Howard Marsh, the company’s managing director, said, “We can only apologise for the significant shortfall in supply… an
The letter says that technical problems at the Preston and Sutton production facilities disrupted the supply of PET-CT tracer. This led to supply appointments being cancelled and rescheduled.
The company claim that steps to mitigate the problem were taken, including flying-in batches of other tracers, working with PETNET to use any spare capacity they could provide and, where appropriate, reducing the radioactive isotope tracer dosage to 400 Mbq to allow for more patient doses to be supplied.
Alliance are working with site teams to reschedule patients as soon as possible.
In the letter, Mr Marsh says, “We are doing everything we can do to offer a reliable supply… in a time when capacity across the UK is reduced, as well demonstrating our commitment to providing surety of supply for the long term.”
The letter includes responses to frequently asked questions, including plans to meet the growing demand going forward.