As of: February 21, 2024, 11:09 a.m
By: Lars-Eric Nievelstein
Comments
Press
Split
The number of pharmacies has been falling for years.
The associations warn that there is too little help coming from politicians.
In the end it affects the patients.
Berlin – “We need the pharmacies to be stabilized: immediately!” That’s what Dr.
Hans-Peter Hubmann, chairman of the German Pharmacists' Association (DAV), at a meeting of pharmacists' associations on February 15th, and warned of the current development.
This is by no means new or surprising: pharmacists protested repeatedly last year in the hope that new impulses would come from politics.
But what actually ails pharmacies?
Number of pharmacies in Germany |
17,571 (2023) |
|---|---|
Proportion of pharmacies in the loss zone |
13 percent |
Fixed fee for pharmacists (fixed sum) |
8.35 euros (since 2013) |
Number of pharmacies at all-time low
At the end of 2023, the number of pharmacies fell to 17,571;
an all-time low.
According to the ABDA, this was the largest annual loss of pharmacies since the founding of the Federal Republic.
Since the peak in 2008 (at that time there were still 21,602 pharmacies), the number has fallen by around 18 percent.
At 21 pharmacies per 100,000 inhabitants, the density of pharmacies is “far” below the European average (32).
The sign of a pharmacy from the outside.
The number of pharmacies has been falling for years.
Apparently there is not enough help from politicians.
In the end it affects the patients.
© IMAGO / snowfieldphotography
“The pharmacies ensure the supply of medicines close to home for the entire population between the Baltic Sea and the Alps, and they are also an indispensable part of every local infrastructure,” explained Overwiening in an association report.
“Every pharmacy that closes is a bitter loss for patients.” For them, the loss of pharmacies usually means a further journey - which they then have to travel to the nearest pharmacy.
The operation is not worth less than two million euros per year
Pharmacies in urban areas tend to be less threatened than those in rural areas, reported
Wirtschaftswoche
.
The number of pharmacies is particularly concentrated in the big cities, with 36 pharmacies located in the immediate vicinity of Munich's Marienplatz alone.
There is hardly any sign of any loss.
In rural areas it is completely different; sometimes people here have to drive over 30 minutes before they can find a pharmacy.
There are a number of reasons for this decline.
Sharp increases in personnel and operating costs mean that operations are no longer worthwhile for pharmacies with sales of less than two million euros.
13 percent of the companies were in the red,
Wirtschaftswoche
reported .
Excessive bureaucracy and a lack of medication make the situation even worse.
And – like so many other industries – pharmacies ultimately suffer from a shortage of skilled workers and young talent.
Pharmacies are calling for relaxation of the fixed allowance
The pharmacies have also been demanding an increase in the so-called fixed allowance for a long time.
This is a fixed fee (currently 8.35 euros) that pharmacists receive for each prescription-only finished medicine.
One problem: The fixed income has behaved according to its name and has not moved since 2013 - despite inflation.
Pharmacists' salaries, on the other hand, certainly increased.
According to the Federal Employment Agency, they earn an average (at the “expert” level) of 4,939 euros per month.
My news
Largest German heating manufacturer is abolishing gas heating systems: Will Habeck's law be a success? read
Next real estate insolvency: Construction crisis is dragging more and more companies into the abyss
Russia threatens “logistics collapse”: China bank lets Putin run into the ground read
2 hours ago
The richest Germans in the ranking: New face moves to first placeread
Global player sends employees to short-time work at the plant in Rhineland-Palatinate
Pension increase in summer 2024: Heil gives the first forecast for pensioners
The fixed income was a significant trigger for the protests last year.
A quick reminder: In June 2023, pharmacists across Germany went on strike and kept their branches closed.
They want the fixed salary to be increased to 12 euros, i.e. a surcharge of more than 40 percent.
According to the
Pharmazeutische Zeitung,
around two thirds of all pharmacists are rather pessimistic about the future, which is also due to the immobile fixed income.
It was one of the most important topics at the German Pharmacists' Day in 2023.
Owners have to go out of business
The ABDA now sees politicians as having a duty.
“Without the pharmacies, the delivery bottleneck crisis would not be possible,” explained Overwiening.
Many owners would have to give up their business because the economic basis would collapse.
“And for young pharmaceutical professionals, setting up a new pharmacy is becoming increasingly unattractive due to a lack of economic prospects.”
The traffic light coalition must now act urgently.
Multiple Germany-wide protests have pointed out the grievances in the system, but instead of financial stabilization, the Federal Ministry of Health has presented “dangerous plans” that would “result in a further economic weakening of the system” and in two-tier care.
The ABDA boss demanded that pharmacists' fees must be adjusted to the massive increase in consumer prices and costs.
A pharmacy rescue law should help.
In the future, the fee should adapt to economic developments.