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This Thursday, May 30, almost all pharmacies are keeping their curtains down. The strike movement, widely followed throughout France, intends to denounce a worrying situation of shortage of medicines, in particular.
If you need to go refill a prescription today, there’s a good chance you’ll find your pharmacy closed. A strike movement is currently underway, at the call of two federations representing the profession, the USPO (the Union of Community Pharmacists’ Unions) and the FSPF (Federation of community pharmacists). 75 to 90% of pharmacies are therefore keeping their curtains down for the entire day of May 30.
More than 5,000 drugs out of stock
Pharmacists don’t often step up to the plate. The last major strike in the profession dates back to 2014. But the situation is serious: according to the federations, the “system is running out of steam”. The cause ? A shortage of medicines which has gradually become widespread. In fact, more than 5,000 medications are out of stock, which complicates their daily lives… and patient care.
“It’s hell. We’re going to waste around ten hours a week finding a manufacturer or wholesaler who will be willing to sell two boxes of antibiotics for children”comments a young pharmacist on BFMTV.
A tension coupled with another fear, that of the possible sale of prescription drugs on online platforms mentioned by Gabriel Attal in his general policy speech.
Too low a margin for advice given in pharmacies
Finally, the strike concerns ongoing negotiations with Health Insurance. If the federations obtained an initial increase, this is still considered insufficient. The fixed commission received by the profession for all sales of medicines has in fact been set at a single rate of 1.02 euros per box for several years. This fixed price is today considered too insufficient to remunerate the pharmacist’s work.
“We are the only liberal profession not to charge for intellectual services. Medical advice which is the basis of the profession is not paid.” mentions another pharmacist on the channel.
As for the additional missions which can now be carried out in pharmacies, such as vaccination, or even urine tests, they suffer from logistics which are not equal across the territory.
However, do you urgently need to go to a pharmacy for treatment? However, pharmacies were requisitioned in each department. How do you know where to go during this strike day?
Three solutions are available to you:
- The 32 37, which is the number that provides information on on-call pharmacies. You can try your luck, but according to professionals it could “failing to provide up-to-date information”;
- Consult the poster at your pharmacy. If it is closed, it should have posted the name of the nearest open pharmacy on its door;
- Visit the ARS website. The various regional health agencies have listed the addresses open today. The site also mentions that the pharmacies mentioned will not necessarily be the only ones open. “Other pharmacies may nevertheless be open at their usual hours if they choose not to join the strike.”