Laura Wilson, Director of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) in Scotland discussed the future of the pharmacy workforce with Michael Matheson,
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care at the SNP conference.
The event, which took place on 17 October in Aberdeen, Scotland featured other health officials including Colin Poolman, Director of the Royal College of
Nursing; Kenryck Lloyd-Jones, Public Affairs and Policy Manager for Scotland, Chartered Society of Physiotherapy; and Chris Marshall, Deputy Editor at Holyrood
Communications.
The Scottish government has recently unveiled its national workforce strategy for health and social care, laying out its plans for achieving recovery, growth,
and transformation.
Wilson highlighted the challenges and opportunities for the pharmacy workforce in Scotland to attract potential pharmacists into the profession and encourage
them to stay within the profession.
"This was a great opportunity to discuss with the Cabinet Secretary the challenges which exist for the pharmacy workforce in Scotland and to highlight some of
the solutions which need to be implemented to ensure a pharmacy workforce in Scotland which is fit for the future," she said.
The Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK (APTUK) has urged the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) to collate the data on actively enrolled on an
approved course or qualification for Pharmacy Technicians of commencement of training.
In a letter from Nicola Stockmann, Vice President APTUK to the GPhC to encourage the collection of data for Pre-Registration Training Pharmacy Technicians,
Stockmann said: "We value the GPHC data for Pharmacy Technician registrants to track the growth and diversity of the Pharmacy Technician profession.
With ongoing inclusive pharmacy practice priorities, APTUK has an organisational pledge to continue this work of all themes through actions. The demographics
of the Pharmacy Technician workforce continue to have a majority of white British registrants and identifying as female; the high-level data collated which is
currently available on the GPHC website does not capture those who are actively enrolled on an approved course or qualification for Pharmacy Technicians."
A recent report published by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has highlighted a significant increase in the number of registered pharmacists
and pharmacy technicians, indicating the expanding role of these professionals in the UK healthcare system.
As of May 31, 2024, the GPhC register recorded a total of 90,739 pharmacy professionals, up from 90,604 at the end of April 2024.
This includes 64,415 pharmacists and 26,324 pharmacy technicians, maintaining a steady split of 71 per cent pharmacists and 29 per cent pharmacy technicians.
This reflects an overall increase of four pharmacists and 131 pharmacy technicians from the previous month.
The report underscores the critical role of pharmacy professionals in ensuring high-quality patient care and supporting the operational efficiency of pharmacies.
Community pharmacy workforce is in a fragile condition and faced a shortfall of 3,000 pharmacists in England over a period of five years, a recent research conducted by the Company Chemists' Association (CCA) has revealed.
It noted that over the last five years, the net growth of community pharmacists in England a year stood at 733. This is much lower than the required average growth of 1,025, based on data reported by the Health Education England workforce survey from 2021.
Acknowledging the discrepancies in the data calculation, the paper published by the association has used "the best available data" to highlight recent changes to the community pharmacy workforce in England.
The report noted that despite an increase in the number of pharmacists, many contractors reported an increase in pharmacist vacancies. They also reported a significant increase in locum hourly pay rates, indicating demand exceeds supply.
The Company Chemists Association (CCA)'s workforce finding showed that by 2024 eight years' worth of growth of the pharmacist workforce will have been
funnelled away from community pharmacies.
"In 2019, when NHS leaders realised they were unable to find enough GPs to meet the public's needs, they hastily decided to recruit pharmacists and other
healthcare professionals to fill the gaps. This was implemented without any corresponding efforts to increase the supply of pharmacists, creating huge shortages,"
said CCA.
"The bulk of the NHS's recruitment drive was paid for using additional money ringfenced by the NHS - the £2.4bn Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS). We
estimate over the life course of ARRS funding (2019-2024), the equivalent of eight years of growth in the number of pharmacists in England will have been funnelled
directly into primary care at the expense of other sectors.
At the current rate, CCA estimate that community pharmacy will have experienced the equivalent of three fallow years by 2024.
To ensure the pharmacy network is protected and able to take pressure off other parts of the NHS, there are several urgent measures which must be implemented.
Countering the impact of primary care recruitment: Community pharmacists should be commissioned to provide 'packages of care' on behalf of GPs, rather than taking
pharmacists away from accessible high street settings.
Pharmacies have administered more than five million flu vaccinations under the national flu vaccination service in 2022/23, revealed the advanced service flu
report published by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA).
According to the report, 5,007,578 million vaccinations has been administered by community pharmacies in 2022/23. Whilst in 2021/22 the total number of vaccines
administered in community pharmacies was 4.85 million.
The service has continued to achieve year-on-year growth in the number of vaccinations administered since it launched in 2015.
Commenting on the end-of-season figures, Alastair Buxton, Director of NHS Services, Community Pharmacy England said: "This season's flu vaccination figures are yet
another example of the incredible contribution that our members and their teams make to protect the public and the NHS as part of a key public health programme.
"Given the significant financial and workforce pressures that our members continue to face, this year on year growth is a fantastic achievement and a testament to
their hard work and dedication.
Day Lewis Pharmacy has enlisted Locate a Locum, a Belfast-based healthcare technology innovator, to deploy and manage a digital solution aimed at enhancing
locum staffing and management across its 267-pharmacy network.
"We sought a faster, user-friendly system for instant locum bookings, particularly for last-minute shifts," said Sam Patel, Executive Director at Day Lewis
Pharmacy. "This tool improves communication between potential locums and our coordinators, creating more opportunities to attract talent from across the country.
Our customers are our priority, and ensuring they have access to staff and advice when needed is our main focus."
Locate a Locum will implement a cloud-based digital solution across the Day Lewis Pharmacy estate, allowing locums to securely search, manage, request, and receive
payment for shifts, Day Lewis said in a statement. This platform enables locum staff to manage their work diaries, location preferences, and commitments, promoting
balanced work-life planning.
"The Locate a Locum platform allows for swift, complete payments to our locums and offers them instant booking, eliminating the need for shift confirmation wait
times," Patel added. "In a dynamic market with rising demand for pharmacy services, this platform is a game-changer, driving growth and unlocking potential."
The Health Education England (HEE) has secured funding to further support growth of the pharmacy technician workforce in 2022/23.
This support is through expansion of pre-registration trainee pharmacy technician (PTPT) training capacity in community pharmacy or as part of a cross-sector
integrated apprenticeship programme.
HEE will be holding two 90-minute webinars on Monday 27 2022. There will be a morning webinar (10-11.30am) and an evening webinar (7-8.30pm) for attendees to
choose from.
Topics like- available funding; eligibility for funding; PTPT training programme requirements for employers; how to apply for this funding; and the support
available from HEE for successful funding of applicants to develop their PTPT training programmes, will be covered during the webinars.
HEE is also hosting another webinar to provide an update on the Independent Prescribing (IP) for pharmacists training offer that they are developing for Autumn 2022.
The number of pharmacists working in community pharmacy in England has increased by 19 per cent in five years, according to new data released by the
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
As of 31 October 2022, there were 27,711 community pharmacists in the country, as compared to 23,284 in 2017, an increase of almost 4,500.
Pharmacy minister Andrea Leadsom revealed these figures yesterday (14 December) while responding to a written question from Karin Smyth, Shadow Minister of Health,
in the parliament.
Smyth asked - how many and what proportion of community pharmacists have worked in England for each of the last 10 years.
AAH Pharmaceuticals on Tuesday (November 15) announced the promotion of its commercial director David Bound to chief executive officer of the company.
In his 10 years in the company, Mr Bound has helped to drive growth across the AAH business, implementing new digital channels for customers, and developing
strategic partnerships with pharmaceutical manufacturers - drawing on from his vast experience in the healthcare industry, as well as in supply chain, operations,
and trading.
Commenting on his promotion, he said: "I'm delighted to be taking on this role at such a critical time for healthcare. There are many challenges affecting the
industry right now - from inflationary pressures to workforce issues - and I'm looking forward to tackling them head-on alongside my excellent team."
In a groundbreaking move, the Department of Education has initiated the first phase of its ambitious childcare expansion plan, offering a lifeline to
thousands of working parents of two-year-olds nationwide.
Effective from April 1, working parents now have access to 15 hours a week of government-funded childcare, marking the onset of the largest-ever childcare
provision expansion in the country's history.
This milestone initiative aims to alleviate the financial strain on families and promote workforce participation, with over 150,000 children projected to benefit
from government-funded places.
By September 2025, the expansion will culminate in working parents gaining access to 30 hours of free childcare, offering substantial annual savings and enabling
parents to navigate the delicate balance between work and family commitments.
Acknowledging the pivotal role of childcare in supporting families and driving economic growth, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak emphasized the government's commitment
to delivering on its promise of expanded childcare provision.
The UK government will lay legislation today (13 December 2023) to allow the General Medical Council (GMC) to begin the process of regulating medical
associates to expand their roles in the NHS.
This will support plans to reduce pressure on doctors and GPs and improve access for patients, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said.
Physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs) will have the same levels of regulatory oversight and accountability as doctors and other regulated
healthcare professionals once the regulations come into force, which is expected at the end of 2024.
The GMC will design and deliver detailed regulatory processes for registration, education, standards and fitness to practise for both professions.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) on Thursday (30th November) announced the launch of a new suicide surveillance system, bolstering its
efforts to tackle emerging methods of suicide and clamp down on those seeking to sell dangerous products to vulnerable people.
For now, the DHSC will work with the National Police Chiefs' Council to gather near to real-time data from across the country on deaths by suspected suicide
by gender, age group and method.
The data will be obtained from individual police forces in England and the government will get it within three months of a suspected suicide, the DHSC said in
its release.
Previously, the only suicide data available at a national level was provided by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), but it could take up to 2 years for
the official ONS data to come through.