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- Pharmaceutical approach: The Ministry of Health responded to the requirements of pharmacies
Pharmaceutical approach: The Ministry of Health responded to the requirements of pharmacies
Almost 1.3 thousand pharmaceutical industry workers sent a collective appeal to the government, the Federation Council and the Minister of Health. It talks about the serious problems that experienced pharmacy workers — pharmacists and pharmacists — face when undergoing periodic accreditation. People who have worked in the industry for more than 20 years have not been able to obtain confirmation of their qualifications, as they claim, on formal grounds. However, not everyone in the industry agrees with this position: the Ministry of Health and the Federal Accreditation Center refuse to give formal reasons for refusals. Read more about the situation in the Izvestia article.
What are pharmacists asking for?
The appeal, which was signed by 1,281 pharmaceutical industry workers, including employees and managers of private and public pharmacies, draws attention to "the numerous difficulties that arise in confirming the accreditation of specialists working in the positions of pharmacists, pharmacy managers and their deputies."
Pharmaceutical industry workers must undergo periodic accreditation every five years. The only form of this accreditation is the assessment of the portfolio, which the employee submits to the Federal Accreditation Center (FAC). Based on the results of the portfolio review, the FAC issues a verdict — and over the past year, "numerous cases of refusals to confirm qualifications have been noted throughout the country, especially among specialists with long work experience of 20-30 years or more."
In the appeal, the reasons for refusals are called formal, having nothing to do with the level of competence of employees.
The formalism lies in the problems with the difference in the entries of the workbook — "pharmacist", "pharmacist-analyst", "pharmacist-organizer", etc. — which appeared at different times among specialists. FATZ regards such recordings as a break in seniority. But it is no longer possible to correct old records that were made 20-25 years ago and bring them to the nomenclature of the Ministry of Health, the appeal says. At the same time, there are no "real positions" in the nomenclature: "pharmacy head", "deputy pharmacy head", etc.
The letter indicates several more problems related to accreditation, as well as 10 proposals. Among them are the audit of the pharmaceutical specialists' accreditation system; the addition of positions to the nomenclature that actually exist in pharmacy organizations; the creation of a working group under the Ministry of Health to prepare proposals for improving the accreditation system; the development of a temporary procedure for simplified confirmation of qualifications for pharmacists with more than 10 years of experience; amnesty for those who have completed retraining and have a valid certificate, etc.
"The personnel situation is critical"
Back in early October, the Alliance of Pharmaceutical Associations, which includes pharmacies throughout Russia, at the initiative of the Association of Independent Pharmacies, had already sent a letter to the FATC asking it to pay attention to personnel issues that had arisen due to problems with the accreditation of specialists (available to Izvestia).
The same problems were described in that letter: a specialist with 5-10 years of experience successfully goes through the periodic accreditation procedure the first time, and experienced pharmacists who have been working for 25 years or more are refused. Its main reasons are called "inaccuracies in the preparation of documents or their incompleteness"; "non-compliance of a specialist with qualification requirements and professional standards", including a break in the length of service in the declared specialty for more than five years; "non-compliance of the specialty with the nomenclature of positions".
The alliance called the second and third reasons unfounded.
Victoria Presnyakova, director of the Association of Independent Pharmacies and head of the Alliance of Pharmaceutical Associations, told Izvestia that this systemic problem arose due to changes in the regulatory framework in 2016 and in the transition period of 2016-2021. At that time, the nomenclature of positions and the procedure for accreditation became mandatory, but commercial employers did not always keep records in accordance with the new requirements.
— The acute stage came in 2025, when the certificates issued in 2021 expired, and a large flow of specialists applied to the FATC, faced with refusals due to inconsistencies in workbooks and registry data, — she explained.
Victoria Presnyakova emphasizes that formally, the FAC is right when it issues refusals in accordance with the procedure approved by the orders of the Ministry of Health of different years, and offers to undergo re-examination or additional training. But this formal way does not solve the existing problems.
She cites as an example the situation of a 64-year-old pharmacist who was twice denied accreditation because his work record contained "motley" entries that did not fit the nomenclature. The FAC perceives them as a break in their seniority and instead of extending their accreditation, they offer three months of retraining. But this "actually forces a person out of the profession," says Victoria Presnyakova.
Because of such situations, pharmacies are forced to close vacancies by hiring sales consultants and junior medical staff without accreditation, she claims.
In general, "the personnel situation is already critical," says Victoria Presnyakova. In some regions, according to her, the deficit reaches more than 30%, the share of pharmacists-technologists is about 15% of all pharmacists, and a significant part of the staff is of pre—retirement age.
"If urgent measures are not taken — the introduction of transitional provisions, recognition of seniority, simplification of the procedure for correcting records — in the next 1-2 years, we expect further deterioration: mass exclusion of experienced specialists and strengthening the practice of replacing unqualified personnel," she said.
She noted that on November 18, the Public Chamber will host a dialogue with the participation of the Ministry of Health, FATC, industry associations, universities and networks. Victoria Presnyakova hopes that this will help to find a way out of the situation.
Industry opinion
The Association of State Pharmacy Chains told Izvestia that they fully support the appeal and confirm that the problems appeared in 2025.
There are complaints about the very accreditation procedure in the FAC.
— The process of passing accreditation is now formalized, it is absolutely not adapted to the solution of personal issues. The system "does not see" the attached files, the documents contained in the submitted package, reports the presence of many software errors and rejects the applications submitted for accreditation, the association noted.
They also confirm the possibility of aggravating personnel problems. If the situation is not resolved, the outflow of specialists will become global, according to the Gosaptek association.
— The industry is in dire need of an influx of specialists. There are many factors influencing the decline in interest in the profession — increasing workloads, demands from employers, low wages, demands from regulatory authorities, regulatory documentation, and the declining prestige of the profession. If we do not focus on the existing problems, personnel and professional regression will become inevitable," the association noted.
Maria Ryabukha, Director of Development of the FarmZnanie platform, also agrees with the requests of industry workers. She also considers the problem to be systemic. Maria Ryabukha points out both the problems with entries in the workbooks of pharmacists and the problems of employees of wholesale companies: there are no qualification requirements for a number of their positions in Russian legislation.
— It is important to return the meaning of accreditation: to evaluate not formal points, but real knowledge and skills, — said the interlocutor of Izvestia. — The accreditation system is necessary and important, but it must remain a development tool, not a barrier. It is important to make the process technological, transparent and predictable so that the industry does not lose experienced specialists and patients are not left without qualified help.
However, not everyone in the industry agrees with the stated requirements. A market source emphasizes that there are certain problems, but they are being worked out manually with the FATC and the Ministry of Health. According to the interlocutor of Izvestia, most of the voiced problems have already been resolved, and he calls many refusals of accreditation justified.
The source also disagrees with the statement about the personnel deficit reaching up to 30%.
The reaction of the FAC and the Ministry of Health
The FATC told Izvestia that the accreditation of specialists is carried out "in accordance with qualification requirements and professional standards." They specify the level of specialist education required to work in the specialty, as well as possible job titles that such specialists may hold. At the same time, FATZ emphasizes that it is only an "executor of regulatory legal acts," and not a body that regulates the legislative framework.
The press service of the Ministry of Health, in turn, in response to a request from Izvestia, stressed that the accreditation rules apply to all medical and pharmaceutical workers without exception and "guarantee citizens the provision of medical care by qualified specialists."
The ministry listed the main reasons for the refusal of periodic accreditation for October 2025. These are the lack of work experience in a position corresponding to the nomenclature of positions; lack of education in accordance with qualification requirements; lack of a certified copy of the workbook; lack of information in the federal register of medical and pharmaceutical workers or its incorrect filling.
"These reasons are not formal," the Ministry of Health said. — Ignoring them by the analysts of the Federal Accreditation Center will lead to the admission of specialists with a low level of professional competence to carry out professional activities, which may pose a threat to the health and life of citizens.
According to the Ministry, 34,787 pharmacists have successfully received periodic accreditation since the beginning of 2025. By the end of 2025, the number will approach 40 thousand.
"This suggests that refusals to undergo periodic accreditation are not systemic in nature, but only reflect non—compliance with the established requirements of the documents of specific specialists," the Ministry of Health is confident.
If received, the Ministry will consider the collective letter "in accordance with the established procedure."
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