Pharmacies to extend hours
Liberalization of the pharmacy sector is picking up momentum, according to a statement made on Wednesday by Health Minister Andreas Loverdos.
According to ministry data, some 800 applications have already been submitted for new licenses, while there are some areas where interest is smaller than demand, such as Thessaloniki, where only 41 applications were sent in for 44 new pharmacy locations.
Loverdos also announced that as of November 1, 30 percent of the country?s pharmacies will be open on Monday and Wednesday afternoons as well as on Saturdays on rotation, in a concession to calls from the sector not to increase all pharmacies? opening hours.
Meanwhile, the outspoken minister lashed out at doctors, saying that ?their clientelist ties and their refusal to serve in the periphery is a burden on the National Health System (ESY).? He added that ?every new hiring allowed by the present economic situation will involve nursing staff,? and not doctors.
