THE medicine bill in the North has reached an all-time high, as pharmacies in Fermanagh continue to face major pressure as they cope with a lack of funding and financial support.
A staggering £875 million was paid out by the Department of Health over the past 12 months, with the figures revealing its annual costs have surged by more that £280 million in 10 years.
The industry has been under major pressure. Community pharmacies have saw their funding cut by 30-per-cent since 2015, resulting in a shortfall of £67,000 to £100,000 per pharmacy.
Local pharmacist, Paul Hughes, pictured left, has previously slammed the lack of financial support.
“We’re not being funded properly by the Government and a lot of community pharmacies in the North that are working at a loss. I’m dispensing some prescriptions at a loss,” said Mr Hughes.
“We’ve not had a rise in our global sum in 10 years and we’re on the breadline.
“Even the young graduates are not staying in Northern Ireland, they’re going down South because the working conditions are so much better and the wages are better so they can afford it.
“We’re finding it harder to get more and more people to come and work on a full-time basis.”
Joe McAleer, a pharmacist owner in Enniskillen, also hit out at the absence of financial support.
“We can’t afford to stock the volume of medicines we had before, we haven’t the money to actually invest in the stock,” Mr McAleer told BBC News.
“Patients are having to make multiple journeys to come in and collect their medicines because the pharmacy hasn’t got it.”
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