Pharmacy Pulse Report Q3 2021

Wages

Wages have continued to rise across the pharmacy sector over the past three quarters due to an increase in locum rates and a shortage of qualified staff and of hourly paid workers. Pharmacy Pulse, Q4 2021 will discuss labour trends in the sector in detail.

Market News

US pharmaceuticals group McKesson Corp has agreed to sell its Irish business to the pan-European wholesaler Phoenix Group. This includes the 90-outlet chain of Lloyds pharmacies and the United Drug wholesale business. McKesson announced its exit from the Irish market as part of a deal to sell its operations in eight European countries. The Irish business has estimated turnover of approximately €2 billion and employs about 1,800 staff here, including more than 900 in Lloyds, which is the second largest pharmacy chain in the market. United Drug employs about 650 staff, while TCP has approximately 165 staff, including 90 nurses

IPU Annual Report

The Irish Pharmacy Union’s (IPU) annual report, produced by KPMG, found community pharmacies’ finances were impacted by a range of financial threats in 2020, including lower footfall, changes in dispensing, and higher operating costs in response to the pandemic.

Budget 2022

In this year’s budget the government provided €31 million to a women’s health package which provided access to free contraception for those aged between 17 and 25. This access to contraception will be provided at the pharmacy level, and has been welcomed by the sector.

Vaccinations

As of Wednesday 30th September, 7.21 million vaccine doses had been administered in Ireland, meaning 90.1% of those over 12 had received at least a first dose. 3.04 million doses were administered in Q3.