In a manifesto, nine organizations of pharmacists describe the profession in a “catastrophic economic” situation. They appeal to the government.
The results of the last demographic panorama 2015 of the National Order of Pharmacists were without appeal. The young graduates in pharmacy shun the installation in pharmacies.
Indeed, if their number increases, only 30% of them decide to practice in a city pharmacy. And the unease goes beyond the vocations crisis. It is wider. For ten years, nearly a thousand pharmacies have disappeared and the pace is accelerating every year. There are already 50 fewer pharmacies in the first quarter of 2016, i.e. more than one closure every two days. Faced with this more than worrying inventory, the representatives of the profession do not mince their words.
“A catastrophic situation”
In a “Manifesto for the French pharmacy“published on Tuesday, nine sector organizations including the Order of Pharmacists (1) describe” a catastrophic economic situation “. They write that the remuneration of dispensing pharmacies is” sharply reduced “for the second consecutive year. And here again, the bad figures accelerated in 2016 with a fall of more than 2% over the first four months of the year.
These professionals estimate that the 22,221 pharmacies, their 120,000 jobs and the 6,500 apprentices, are threatened by this economic situation, “which leads to sudden closures that could call into question the territorial network”.
And this situation will not help the economic crisis that France has been going through since 2007. “The pharmacy is very often the only outpost of the health system and creator of qualified jobs in rural areas and difficult neighborhoods”, estimate these representatives.
A desire for reform
But the entire profession (Order, unions, groups of pharmacists and students) will not give up. The representatives are even ready for a major reform to save their profession. In a press release, they therefore call on the government to make a commitment before the 2017 social security financing bill (PLFSS) “to set a clear economic framework”.
The unions even consider this framework “essential” before the upcoming opening of the negotiation of the national pharmaceutical agreement which will commit pharmacies, health insurance and the State for 5 years. “This agreement will allow the profession to evolve and the strengthening of the pharmacy network”, they specify.
Concretely, they want to reinforce the role of the pharmacist in the observance and the good use of the drug. This requires new missions. Such as those which consist in strengthening their role with the elderly in town and in nursing homes, in developing prevention and screening actions at the dispensary, in organizing town / hospital continuity, or even in strengthening coordination between the various professionals health. “All this while obtaining a remuneration adapted to these new missions”, they conclude.
(1) USPO, FSPF, UNPF, FEDERG, CNNGPO, UGDPO, ANEPF, APR, National Council of the Order of Pharmacists
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