However, the new business model also has its dark side, which is tired health professionals, sometimes on the threshold of professional burnout, lack of time for routine counseling and little storage space for medicines.
–
In France, 90 percent of people get tested in pharmacies. The first wave of interest was experienced last summer during one of the waves of the epidemic, and pharmacists have seen renewed and twice as much interest since mid-December. This is related to the arrival of a more contagious variant of the omicron, but also to the introduction of the covid passport in France, which is necessary to enter restaurants or theaters.
–
Pharmacies coped with the onslaught by employing additional staff, but they needed to be found and trained first. Testing also brings an administrative burden, including invoicing each test separately.
–
“We no longer have time to advise clients. The burden affects the management of the pharmacy and our day-to-day operations. We start earlier and end later, “describes one of the Parisian pharmacists.
–
According to the USPO pharmacy unions, the activity of pharmacies increased by an average of 30 to 40 percent. The acquisition costs for the test are 1.75 to 2.80 euros, invoicing is uniform, 25 euros, on Sundays and public holidays 30 euros. However, other FSPF unions emphasize the public service aspect.
–
“Pharmacy margins have risen sharply since we started testing. In addition, VAT on tests is zero percent, ”says the pharmacist, who performs 100 to 140 tests a day.
–
People who get hired to pharmacies, often medical students, also benefit from the increased interest in testing. When demand was highest, some of them received up to five euros for one consumption. Pharmacy staff then regret that young pharmacists prefer to do mechanical swabs rather than go to the counter or lab and prepare prescription drugs.
–
A few months ago, pharmacies added another new activity – vaccination against covid-19. Since the start of the vaccination campaign, pharmacists have administered 14 million doses.
–
But these exceptional activities will one day end and this source of income will dry up for pharmacies. But what they will have left for the future is the ability to flexibly adapt to new health challenges. This could be a source of their wealth even after the covidu-19 pandemic ends, he wrote The world.
—
