ONE IN FOUR pharmacies in Ireland are operating at a loss according to a new survey published to coincide with the beginning of the Irish Pharmacy Union’s (IPU) national conference today.
The conference gets under way in Kildare today with the survey by Grant Thornton finding that the average pharmacy contractor recorded a net profit margin of four per cent in 2011 with average outlet’s net profit down by almost a fifth – 17 per cent.
The survey also determined that 17,766 people are employed in the pharmacy sector but Rory O’Donnell, the president of the IPU, said that the pharmacy sector “is stretched almost to breaking point”.
The IPU said that the survey also confirms that government has already taken over €570 million cumulative savings from fees paid to pharmacists since 2009 which averages out at €340,000 per pharmacy.
This comes despite an increase in demand for medicines from State schemes and pharmacists’ income has fallen as a result, the IPU said.
O’Donnell added: “I am calling on the Minister to cease making arbitrary cuts to payments and to engage with healthcare professionals on a healthcare reform agenda that will deliver efficiencies and services to patients in their communities.”
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