The most significant differences that you would notice if you set foot into a French pharmacy would be:
- A typical French pharmacy sells very little other than medicines and a few baby products, and indeed most medicines in France can only be bought from a Pharmacy and not from anywhere else
- French Pharmacies tend to employ more highly trained dispensing technicians who work on counters with PMR systems directly in front of customers. There is not normally a traditional back-shop dispensary as such.
- French pharmacies are not required to label dispensed medicines unless the doctor wants the patient to take the product differently to the standard dose on the information leaflet
- Whilst a French pharmacy is required, as in the UK, to have a pharmacist always present on the premises, they are often working behind the scenes and have to be asked for
- Most patients in France now have a health card (Like a credit card) and doctors can place electronic prescriptions on these cards in the surgery, the patient can then choose to go with their card to any pharmacy to have prescriptions stored on the card dispensed
- The payment system for prescriptions in France is very complex indeed compared to the very simple UK fee/no-fee system. Most patients will pay something for each item dispensed in France, but if they have health insurance, or state cover, they can claim most of it back
- The generics industry in France is considerably less well developed in France than in the UK and several products available as generics in the UK are still not yet widely available as generics in France