Hanau fights for reliable emergency pharmacies for the citizens!

Hanau fights for reliable emergency pharmacies for the citizens!

The city of Hanau has been faced with significant problems since the conversion of the pharmacy emergency service system at the beginning of 2024. In particular on certain days, no available pharmacies can be reached, which is particularly stressful for older and less mobile citizens. As a result of the reform, pharmacies in rural areas should be relieved, but the city of Hanau, which counts over 106,000 inhabitants, did not feel sufficiently taken into account by the new regulation.

Mayor Dr. Maximilian Bieri pointed out that the maximum removal between the pharmacies was increased from 20 to 25 kilometers and the emergency service districts were dissolved. This leads to bottlenecks in emergency availability, especially in urban regions such as Hanau. The city is now asking the Hesse State Pharmacist Chamber of Pharmacy to guarantee a permanent pharmacy emergency service. Equal treatment with other independent cities such as Kassel, Offenbach, Wiesbaden and Darmstadt is also sought. The fact that Hanau will become independent from January 1, 2026 emphasizes the urgency of an equivalent health care.

Missing information about emergency service readiness

The city of Hanau has so far received no concrete answers to evaluation and planning for 2025. To help the citizens, there are ways to find the closest emergency pharmacy: The desired location or postcode can be entered in a search field via the Aponet.de platform, and all emergency pharmacies in the area are displayed on a card. It should be noted that the results are non -binding and emergency services can change at short notice, as Aponet.de reported.

In the cities, about every tenth pharmacy has emergency service every night and holidays. Important information, such as the fact that pharmacists are limited to your warehouse in the emergency service and cannot reorder medication from wholesale, are also important. Emergency service fees of 2.50 euros can be charged during certain times, the health insurance companies take over these fees under certain conditions.