The "nepretržitá služba" (non-stop service) sign at the Ružinov Polyclinic pharmacy has not been applicable since summer this year. (source: FB: Univerzitná lekáreň v Bratislave)
The university pharmacy at Ružinov Polyclinic, which once remained opened overnight, has been closing at 19:00 each day for more than two months now. The reason is the inability of the Faculty of Pharmacy at Comenius University Bratislava, which runs the pharmacy, to fund its 24-hour operation.
Selected emergency pharmacies in the capital are open until 22:00 each day, under rules set by the Bratislava Region.
Until the summer, however, Bratislava was the only city in Slovakia with a 24-hour pharmacy.
No funds, no 24/7 service
Ondrej Sukeľ, head of the Slovak Chamber of Pharmacists, says the university pharmacy maintained a 24-hour operation due to Bratislava’s large population, but “recently it became a loss-making activity,” mainly due to the need to pay weekend and night bonuses to staff.
“We delayed cutting hours as a last resort, but analysis showed it was economically unsustainable,” explained pharmacy head Mariana Levrinc. The chamber requested the end of 24-hour service, confirmed regional spokesperson Lucia Forman, leading to a schedule change in July.
Levrinc notes that “another change in hours isn’t ruled out if conditions improve.” Most prescriptions – 92 percent – were filled before 22:00, and night visits were mainly for non-urgent, over-the-counter items.
Forman highlights that on public holidays and weekends people mainly visited to buy over-the-counter medications, veterinary drugs, and pregnancy tests – purchases that could easily wait until morning.
The updated list of late-night and weekend pharmacies with opening hours can be found on the e-VÚC (self-governing region of Slovakia) website.
Several pharmacies are open until 21:00; the pharmacy at the National Institute of Children’s Diseases in Bratislava, according to spokesperson Dana Kamenická, is open “every day until 22:00, including weekends and holidays.” Despite the name, it provides medication for adults as well as children.
Ondrej Sukeľ explained that after 22:00 anyone needing life-saving medication must go to a hospital accident & emergency department, each of which holds the necessary drugs, though he noted that overnight usage of such services is rare in the Bratislava area.
