Frankfurt/Main (dpa/lhe) - More and more pharmacies in Hesse are offering services, such as training on how to inhale correctly or advice on the interaction of medicines. Doctors are extremely critical of this - pharmacists believe that the offer serves the patients.
"Our services improve the supply of medicines for patients," wrote Holger Seyfarth, Chairman of the Hessian Pharmacists' Association, at the start in the summer. So-called pharmaceutical services have been permitted since June 2022. With the "On-Site Strengthening Act" the options for pharmacies were expanded - beyond the obligation to provide information and advice to certain services.
The Hessian Association of Pharmacists assumes that around three quarters of pharmacies will offer such services in the course of 2023. There are already more than in the summer. At the end of 2022, according to the association, the offer is still “manageable”, as a spokesman said, “this will increase significantly next year”.
Possible services include medication advice. A pharmacist looks at the various medications that a patient is taking, advises the customer and, if requested, informs the doctor. According to the association, the aim is to get an overview that older patients in particular who are being treated by different doctors often do not have.
The Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KV) Hessen sees such offers critically. "Here, medical activities are delegated to a group of people who lack the qualifications," said a KV spokesman. Apart from that, "the remuneration is unbelievably higher than if these services were provided by doctors".
