Bottlenecks in the supply of medicines, growing bureaucracy and a lack of staff: pharmacists are massively critical of the increasing burdens they are exposed to. With a nationwide day of protest, they want to draw attention to their situation.
The Federal Union of German Associations of Pharmacists (ABDA) has accused politicians and health insurance companies of “saving mania” in the supply of medicines. The pharmacies would be “saved broken”, according to the association.
Budgeting with scarce medicines, increasing delivery bottlenecks and excessive bureaucracy would worsen the situation of German pharmacies, said ABDA President Gabriele Overwiening. This is also the reason for “the ever faster declining number of pharmacies on site”.
More decision-making authority in case of bottlenecks
After overcoming the corona pandemic, which was also unfortunate for pharmacies, there was now the next crisis with the “unspeakable bottlenecks in the supply of medicines”, Overwiening warned. This means a lot of extra work for the pharmacies, which is not additionally remunerated. Instead, there are fee cuts.
The delivery bottlenecks for certain medicines are “a symbol of a health policy that is too much geared towards savings,” the ABDA President continued to criticize. She also accused the federal government of inaction in the event of drug shortages.
In order to cope with the ongoing delivery problems, the ABDA reaffirmed its call for more decision-making authority in the pharmacies. For example, an ordinance issued during the pandemic enabled pharmacists to dispense a spare medicine they had in stock when they filled a prescription. The President of the Association demanded that this flexible regulation for drug delivery must be retained.
Number of pharmacies declining
According to new data from the ABDA, the number of pharmacies fell by 293 to 18,068 nationwide last year. That is the lowest number in around 40 years. In the first quarter of 2023, the number continued to decline and reached a low of 17,939 pharmacies.
There are significantly more employees in German pharmacies, currently around 160,000. However, this is related to more part-time work and an increased need due to an aging society. In the future, the tasks for the pharmacy teams would become ever larger, more complex and more challenging. Overall, the ABDA sees a “very serious” shortage of young people and staff.
pharmacy closingexercise on the day of the protest
On Pharmacy Day on Wednesday, ABDA, chambers of pharmacists and state associations, together with young professionals, are launching the “Against future theft” initiative to draw attention to what they see as the precarious situation of pharmacies. In addition, a nationwide protest day is planned for June 14, on which pharmacies, with the exception of emergency pharmacies, are to remain closed.