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Ninety-six per cent of community pharmacists surveyed in the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) Workforce Wellbeing survey said they were at 'risk of burnout'. A higher number of respondents working in community pharmacy (20%) reported not being offered breaks compared to all other sectors (8%) and were more likely to experience verbal or physical abuse from patients and the public (69% vs an average 44%). The annual Workforce Wellbeing survey also revealed that 88 per cent of pharmacists surveyed are at high risk of burnout due to winter pressure. Therefore, RPS is calling for workforce planning for pharmacy to address skill mix and staffing levels so that workloads can be effectively managed. Top factors causing poor mental health and wellbeing revealed by the survey include inadequate staffing (70%), lack of work/life balance (53%), lack of protected learning time (48%) and lack of colleague/senior support (47%). This is the fourth survey RPS has run in partnership with the charity Pharmacist Support on the state of mental health and wellbeing in pharmacy. The findings demonstrate continued pressure on pharmacists and trainees across the workforce, especially in community pharmacy where 96% of those surveyed said they were at risk of burnout.

In a recent survey of 2,000 UK adults, 34 per cent preferred consulting pharmacists for health advice after researching symptoms, while for those surveyed specifically from Wales, this figure increased to 35 per cent, according to 2San - a global supplier of healthcare products and solutions. The survey said women had a higher tendency, with 39 per cent seeking their pharmacist's guidance compared to 29 per cent of men surveyed. According to the survey findings, over one-fifth of people in the UK are turning to pharmacists instead of their primary care physician or doctor for guidance and advice with medical symptoms. "With more than 38 million patients in the UK waiting more than two weeks for a GP appointment, it is unsurprising that 34 per cent of people surveyed asked a pharmacist for advice over their primary care physician/doctor in the last 12 months," 2san said. In Wales, over a third of people prefer their community pharmacist for support and advice, while those aged 65 and above still tend to consult their primary care physician.

A survey of over six thousands pharmacies has revealed that the community pharmacy sector is buckling under growing cost and capacity pressures. The survey conducted by the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, which also involved two thousand community pharmacy confirms, rising costs, patient demand and medicine supply issues continue to grip the sector. PSNC's 2023 Pharmacy Pressures Survey, run as a follow up to the 2022 pressures survey, provides clear comparative data showing the worsening situation across the sector. Govt must act now The result of the survey indeed paints a bleak picture for community pharmacies and it is clear that without urgent action from government and the NHS this will only get worse: more community pharmacies will either be forced to reduce the number of services they provide or, in the worst-case scenario, will be left with no option but to close their doors for good. The PSNC has urged the government to act now "to save our pharmacies, before it is too late for patients, the public, and the rest of the NHS". "This year's survey clearly shows that community pharmacies are buckling under growing cost and capacity pressures," said PSNC Chief Executive Janet Morrison.

Pharmacy owners have less than a week to complete the mandatory 2023 Community Pharmacy Workforce Survey, which closes on Sunday, December 17. The NHS Business Services Authority sent an email with a survey link to pharmacy owners on October 23, 2023. In certain cases, such as Company Chemists' Association member companies and other multiple pharmacy groups, head offices will centrally complete the survey. "If you're unsure whether the survey will be completed centrally, please seek guidance from your head office," Community Pharmacy England has said. Since 2022, completing the annual NHS England community pharmacy workforce survey has been a Terms of Service requirement for pharmacy owners.

Tough times for community pharmacies in England are far from over as the industry continues to grapple with major gaps in the workforce. Even though the latest figures released by the Health Education England (HEE) Community Pharmacy Workforce Survey 2021 showed doubling of pharmacist vacancy rate in England to 8 per cent between 2017 and 2021, it flagged the contractors' difficulty level in filling up these positions. The survey report showcased changes in the size and make-up of the community pharmacy workforce since the last survey conducted in 2017. It revealed that 56 per cent of pharmacy contractors reported high difficulty level in recruiting pharmacists, up from 21 per cent in the earlier survey. Moreover, a greater proportion - 60 per cent of contractors found filling up the pharmacy technician role 'fairly' or 'very' difficult. Other roles in the sector considered difficult to fill included accuracy checkers and trained dispensing assistants, both at 58 per cent.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has launched Pharmacy Pressures Survey 2023 to make case against the 'unprecedented financial and operational challenges' faced by the community pharmacies in England. The Committee has urged those working in or owns a community pharmacy to 'take part' in the survey. "The survey results will be critical to help us to show Government and the NHS how difficult things now are for pharmacies, and to persuade them to take action. We will be using the results in our negotiations, in our conversations with MPs, Ministers and in national media work as part of the joint #saveourpharmacies campaign," said PSNC. The Pharmacy Pressures Survey is once again comprised of two surveys to give insight into both financial and operational pressures. Together with the other national pharmacy organisations PSNC are working both to show policy makers the severity of the problems and to lobby for Government and NHS action to ease the pressures.

The full-time equivalent community pharmacy workforce saw a 6 per cent decline in a year, while the overall number of pharmacists remains nearly constant, according to NHS England's Community Pharmacy Workforce Survey 2022. However, vacancy rates among pharmacists rose 16 percent, suggesting an increased reliance on locum pharmacists who, on average, work fewer hours, the data revealed. According to NHSE, the mandated survey released (Aug. 3) achieved a 95 per cent completion rate among pharmacy contractors, marking a substantial increase compared to only 47 per cent in the previous year. The survey results indicate a shift in working patterns within community pharmacy, with locum pharmacists being utilised more frequently as part of the staffing model. The survey revealed a 6 per cent decrease in the community pharmacy workforce across all roles combined. The number of full-time equivalent pharmacists working in community pharmacy decreased by 2,411, from 20,255 in 2021 to 17,844 in 2022, the survey found. The employed pharmacists decreased by 16 per cent from 12,774 in 2021 to 10,943 in 2022, while locum pharmacists increased by 26 per cent from 4,297 in 2021 to 5,477 in 2022, NHSE said.

The results of the Community Pharmacy IT Group's (CP ITG's) IT arrangements survey revealed that 83 per cent of the respondents support the goal of going paperless. The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) asked community pharmacy teams to complete the survey between late 2021 and October 2022. The survey was designed to gather information on frontline pharmacy teams' perspectives about community pharmacy IT and their pharmacies' IT arrangements. It was found that more than half of pharmacies experience at least one IT outage per month (lasting at least one hour). Over 40% reported poor mobile phone signal and limited internet connectivity options at their pharmacy. 80% agreed that mobile devices would help working within pharmacy, but most reported no laptop and no tablet device available for use in the pharmacy

Working conditions in pharmacies have worsened in 2021, the annual Safer Pharmacies Survey conducted by the Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) revealed, highlighting the challenging and unsafe environments that some pharmacists are working in. The survey asks pharmacists across all areas of practice about their experiences of key safety measures in the workplace. Since the launch of the Safer Pharmacies Charter in 2017, PDA's annual surveys have monitored their feedback against the Charter's commitments, which covers seven basic areas as standard practice for pharmacy work. The commitments are No Self-Checking, Safe Staffing, Access to a Pharmacist, Adequate Rest, Respect for Professional Judgment, Raising Concerns and Physical Safety. The survey revealed that eight out of 10 feel unsafe at work as violence and abuse still remain areas of concerns in pharmacy.

The latest findings from the National Cancer Patient Experience Survey 2022 by QualityWatch, a joint programme with the Nuffield Trust and the Health Foundation shed light on concerning disparities faced by ethnic minority communities in the UK healthcare system. Despite strides in cancer care, the survey highlights persistent challenges in easy and equitable access to timely diagnosis and quality communication, particularly for individuals from Mixed, Black, or Asian backgrounds. Key insights from the survey underscored that individuals from ethnic minority groups often require a higher number of interactions with healthcare professionals before receiving a cancer diagnosis. Notably, one in three people from Mixed, Black, or Asian ethnicities needed three or more visits to a GP practice, compared to the average of one in five across the population. These delays in diagnosis can have significant implications for treatment outcomes and overall patient experience. Moreover, the survey revealed concerning trends regarding the quality of communication following a cancer diagnosis among ethnic minority patients.

Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has launched its third annual Pressures Survey to uncover the various challenges encountered by individuals owning or working in a community pharmacy. The Committee expressed concern that community pharmacies in England are now in a critical situation, significantly affecting workload, stress levels, patients, and businesses. The 2024 Pharmacy Pressures Survey is aimed at finding out more about these issues and other areas such as medicines supply problems and workforce challenges as well as the recently launched Pharmacy First service, it said. CPE chief executive Janet Morrison said that they were able to receive a huge number of responses in previous surveys and they are expecting to achieve a similar level of engagement this year too.

Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has launched two surveys to gather data on the pressures that people working in community pharmacies are facing. Pharmacy teams have informed the negotiator about the ongoing financial and operational pressures and expressed concerns that these pressures could impact patients' care. The surveys would give a snapshot of the problems faced by pharmacies and the results will be used in ongoing discussions with NHS England & NHS Improvement and the Department of Health and Social Care. The results will also help PSNC to make pharmacy's case in conversations with the MPs, ministers and the national media. The two separate surveys are for: Pharmacy business owners/head office representatives - This survey covers the pressures faced by businesses, including financial and staffing pressures. Pharmacy teams - It covers the day-to-day pressures experienced by pharmacy teams including supply chain issues, patient interactions/experience and staff morale.

Pharmacies lead among the list of 16 'most essential' services required for a neighbourhood, as revealed by the 2023 Community Barometer survey commissioned by the Association of Convenience Stores. In June, ACS commissioned Yonder Consulting to conduct a poll surveying the opinions of 1,000 people across the UK. The survey assessed how these individuals value 16 different services in their local area, defined as the region within a 15-minute walk from their homes. The survey's essential services included pharmacies, post offices, convenience stores, banks, petrol stations, restaurants, coffee shops, pubs, specialist food shops, non-food shops, fast food shops, vape shops, charity shops, pawnbrokers, hairdressers, and gyms or sports facilities.

Only a day is left before community pharmacy contractors are required to complete Health Education England's Community Pharmacy Workforce Survey for 2022. The survey closes on Wednesday (November 30). The completion requirements are mandatory and particularly pertinent at a time when workforce challenges have become a major issue within the sector. These pressures are being acutely felt within community pharmacy, with serious consequences for pharmacy contractors. PSNC and the other national pharmacy bodies have called for improved workforce planning to be undertaken by the government and NHS, but for this to happen, high quality workforce data for community pharmacy needs to be available, which will then provide a full picture of the sector's workforce, including identifying the number of vacancies and regions where these are particularly hard to fill.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) has called for improved workforce planning to be undertaken by the government and NHS. However, for this to happen, it added, "high quality workforce data for community pharmacy needs to be available." For this reason, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS England and PSNC have agreed that it will be a Terms of Service requirement for contractors to complete the annual Health Education England (HEE) community pharmacy workforce survey, which will then provide a full picture of the community pharmacy workforce, including identifying the number of vacancies and regions where these are particularly hard to fill. PSNC said: "It is acutely aware of the challenges that contractors and their teams are currently facing, so in recognition of the workload associated with completing the annual workforce survey, we have negotiated with DHSC and NHS England that the requirement to undertake an annual patient satisfaction survey will be removed from the Terms of Service from 1st October 2022." This means that contractual requirement will no longer apply to contractors in 2022/23 and going forward.

To support the mental health and wellbeing of pharmacists, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) is running its fourth annual Workforce Wellbeing survey, in partnership with Pharmacist Support. This year it's focussed on exploring some of the obstacles that prevent workforce wellbeing measures being implemented in practice. It's vital that workplace supports good mental health and wellbeing and provides the right environment to help prevent the negative effects of working under intense pressure. RPS urges: "Please complete the survey as soon as you can. It's anonymous, open to pharmacists in all settings including students and you don't need to be a member of RPS to take part." "We'll take the results of the survey to governments across Great Britain, the NHS, and wider stakeholders to advocate for improvements to support the mental health and wellbeing of pharmacists."

Too many unreasonable demands placed on pharmacists by employers affect their health and wellbeing at work, a stress and wellbeing survey conducted by The Pharmacists' Defence Association (PDA) Union revealed. The survey, conducted during Autumn 2021, covered views of over 2,000 pharmacists employed by big multiples - Lloyds, Boots, and Well. This survey used questions developed by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which enabled the union to understand more about stress and wellbeing in three of the largest community pharmacy multiples. Analysing the survey, the PDA said that some pharmacists working for each of the three employers highlighted "unachievable targets, unrealistic time pressures, and most worrying of all reported numerous instances of bullying and harassment." An overwhelming majority of the respondents reflected personal sacrifices made by the pharmacists to ensure patient services are not impacted by the poor conditions and environments in some pharmacies.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has released findings from its fifth annual workforce wellbeing survey, which was conducted in collaboration with the profession's charity, Pharmacist Support. Exposing the mental health challenges faced by pharmacists, the survey revealed a troubling statistic: 86 per cent of pharmacists are at a high risk of burnout. Inadequate staffing was the main factor contributing to burnout, followed by lack of work-life balance, insufficient protected learning time, absence of colleague or senior support, and long working hours. While pharmacies are encouraged to provide more clinical services, more than 60 per cent of pharmacists surveyed reported that they were not being offered "sufficient protected learning time" to focus on their professional development and learning needs. The survey also exposed a distressing trend of workplace abuse, with over 40 per cent of pharmacists reporting verbal abuse from the public, and 25 per cent from colleagues or managers.

Majority of the pharmacies are facing aggression from patients due to the medicine supply chain issue, a PSNC survey has revealed. The Pharmacy Pressures Survey by the trade body has seen nearly 83 per cent of pharmacies reporting a significant increase in medicine supply issues in the past year, leading to extra work and additional stress for staff. The survey of over 5,000 pharmacy premises and 1,000 pharmacy team members in England took place in early 2022. Two-thirds of respondents said that medicines supply chain issues are a daily occurrence, with 97 per cent reporting that this led to frustration from patients. "The results of PSNC's Pressures Survey make distressing reading for anybody in the sector - they tell a story of teams under immense pressures, and of businesses at crisis point," said Janet Morrison, PSNC chief executive.

Long waiting times for National Health Service (NHS) care are leaving people too sick to work in the UK, which is affecting the country's economy. One in three people missed work in 2022 due to delays in accessing NHS care, revealed a new survey by Pollsters Savanta. The market research consultancy surveyed 2,235 people in the UK this month on behalf of the Liberal Democrats. According to the survey results, 19 per cent of the participants could not go to work as they were waiting for a GP appointment. While 15 per cent of the respondents had to take a long period off work while they waited for treatment or surgery, 12 per cent missed work as they waited for emergency dental treatments. Overall, 36 per cent of those surveyed had missed at least some work because of difficulty getting NHS care.