Group items tagged

Community Pharmacy England (CPE) has published its latest Pharmacy Pressures Survey report, highlighting the impact of staffing shortages, underfunding, escalating workload pressures, and extreme stress and burnout. These pressures are affecting not only the personal and professional lives of pharmacy staff but also the quality of patient care. The Pressures Survey 2024: Staffing and Morale Report is based on the views of the owners of over 6,100 pharmacy premises in England and 2,000 pharmacy team members. In the survey, 86 per cent of pharmacy team members reported that staffing shortages have resulted in longer waiting times for patients, impacting timely access to medication and advice. Nearly two-thirds (62 per cent) of pharmacy staff indicated that staffing shortages have led to a reduced ability to offer services or advice to patients in need. Almost all pharmacy staff (92 per cent) stated that they were not coping well and were struggling with their workload.

The Pharmacy Schools Council (PhSC) has issued a statement urging a cautious approach to the significant expansion of additional UK universities seeking accreditation for new Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) programmes. At least seven more UK universities are seeking accreditation for new Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) programmes, but existing pharmacy school heads are warning that severe staffing shortages could threaten the quality of education. While the council welcomes the increasing interest in the pharmacy profession, it has warned that the "growth is managed not only in the workplace but within the education sector." In a meeting held in April 2024, the council members expressed that while this expansion would increase the number of undergraduate places available for pharmacy students, heads of existing pharmacy schools raised serious concerns about the challenges in recruiting suitably qualified staff to run these programmes. The PhSC highlighted the difficulties in attracting candidates for academic positions, particularly those requiring clinical expertise.

Labour's Paulette Hamilton has raised concerns regarding the increasing reliance on pharmacy technicians in clinical practice due to staffing shortages within pharmacies. At the recent Pharmacy Inquiry session, Hamilton highlighted the mounting pressure on technicians to take on more responsibilities beyond their qualifications, attributing it to the launch of Pharmacy First in January. With almost 50,000 Pharmacy First consultations conducted in the first month alone as per a report by the Company Chemists' Association, Hamilton expressed apprehension about technicians being classified under the broad term of "pharmacy professionals," blurring the distinction between their roles and those of clinical pharmacists. She further drew parallels between this situation and the scrutiny faced by physician associates (PAs) in GP practices following a patient's death due to misdiagnosis and cautioned against technicians performing tasks beyond their expertise and urged policymakers to prevent similar incidents in pharmacy settings. Health Minister Dame Andrea Leadsom responded by defending the current approach, denying any "blurring of the edges" and emphasizing patient safety as the top priority.

The consequences of NHS workforce crisis is not limited to general practice, community pharmacies are also suffering, commented Community Pharmacy England after the General Medical Council (GMC) published a report on Friday (23 June) which warned of the burnout in the workforce. The report calls for urgent actions to break a 'vicious cycle' of unmanageable workloads, dissatisfaction and burnout that is causing UK doctors to take steps to quit. Chief Executive Janet Morrison, said: "The GMC's report is yet another clear signal of the scale of the mounting the NHS workforce crisis, and this is not limited to general practice: community pharmacies are also suffering the consequences of it." "Pharmacy teams are overstretched, feeling immense pressures, and dealing with significantly increased workloads. Pharmacy owners are also finding it impossible to make ends meet, not least given the rising staffing costs which are being driven up by workforce issues. Findings show the number of doctors who reported working beyond their rostered hours on a weekly basis rose from 59% in 2021 to 70% in 2022, and 42% said they felt unable to cope with their workload each week (up from 30% in 2021). Just half said they were satisfied in their work, down from 70% in 2021.

"Locums are a vital part of pharmacy to ensure branches can remain open and provide vital services to communities and patients across the country," said Jonathon Clarke, CEO and founder of Locate a Locum. In an exclusive email interaction with Pharmacy Business, Jonathon noted that while the demand for locums remains high, there has been a dip from the post-COVID peak, which is also reflected in their rates. Due to the shortage of registered pharmacists, employers are actively seeking locums to cover gaps in their rotas. "Legally, there needs to be a registered pharmacist on site or else a pharmacy is unable to open resulting in an NHS fine," he highlighted. Whether employed or working as self-employed locums, pharmacists face many issues on a day-to-day basis, such as insufficient staffing or commercial pressure to hit "targets". However, locums also face several unique issues on top of these. According to Jonathon, a significant challenge locums face due to the changing market environment in the UK is the "rising workload" associated with offering advanced services such as Pharmacy First.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has called pharmacy employers and pharmacy trade unions to come together to a round table meeting to agree on principles for a way forward that ensures patients benefit consistently from access to high quality, adequately staffed, safe pharmacy services. It has also urged the governments, NHS organisations and individual pharmacy teams to define clear prioritisation plans, which can be embedded in organisational business continuity plans which set out the pharmacy services that are essential and must always be provided and can be de-prioritised at specific levels of pressures. The challenges for pharmacies are compounded by the escalating cost of living crisis. With unprecedented levels of burnout among pharmacists, pharmacy closures and the potential for strike action, RPS has called for three things- 'professionalism, respect and prioritisation.'

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has called on the UK government to invest in and reimagine learning disability nursing, as its analysis reveals parts of England risk becoming "learning disability nurse deserts," with student numbers collapsing across all regions and courses closing at an alarming rate. Over the past eight years, the number of acceptances onto learning disability nursing courses in England has dropped by 36 per cent, according to the RCN analysis. In 2024, not a single university in the South East offered the degree. Additionally, the number of learning disability nurses employed in the NHS in England has nearly halved since May 2010, as of July 2024. The RCN has warned that this crisis could leave vulnerable people without access to vital care. It noted that reforms to nursing education, including the removal of the nursing bursary and universal maintenance support for undergraduates, have particularly impacted learning disability nursing, a specialty that depends heavily on mature students.