UK is the ‘sick man of Europe’ on medicines and pharmacy spending – NPA

The UK is far behind comparable nations in spending on medicines and community pharmacies, according to a new analysis by the National Pharmacy
Association (NPA).

Published today, the report highlights that Britain ranks among the worst countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for
access to pharmacies, with fewer pharmacies per 100,000 people than countries like Bulgaria, Latvia, Romania, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, France, and many others.

On average, a UK pharmacy serves around 5,700 patients, far more than those in France (3,238 patients) and the Republic of Ireland (2,500 patients), where an
average pharmacy caters to less than half the number of patients served in the UK.

All comparable countries manage fewer patients per pharmacy.

The NPA analysis also found that the UK spends less per capita on medicines than nations such as Australia, Ireland, Japan, the US, Spain, Germany, and Italy.

Germany spends twice as much as the UK, while the US spends nearly three times more.