Yesterday’s Financial Times reported that pharmacists in Spain are struggling to continue operating their businesses due to a lack of payment from the Regional governments.
“We depend 80 to 90 per cent on the health system, and it’s the first time they’ve stopped paying,” says Ms Espinosa, who is president of the regional pharmacists’ federation. The government owes them €150m ($216m) in unpaid bills – and that is only the debt to the pharmacies of one region. “They say there’s no money, that their predecessors spent it all.”
While the article is focused on the region of Castilla-La Mancha, it is likely that pharmacists in other autonomous regions are experiencing the exact same issues.