Pharmacists' confidence in their business prospects has fallen to a two-year low, research by Lloyds TSB has revealed.

Pharmacists were more pessimistic about their long-term prospects than GPs or dentists for the first time in two years, found the bank's healthcare confidence survey, published this week (June 10).

Lloyds TSB also recorded the largest fall in short-term confidence among pharmacists since the survey started in 2011, following a more positive outlook last year. Only a fifth of pharmacists expected profits to grow over the next 12 months, compared with two fifths in 2012.

Pharmacists' outlook in numbers 92% expect financial pressures to increase in the next five years 71% would not encourage their son or daughter to follow them into the profession 81% anticipate further consolidation in the market 73% expect to provide more services over the next five years Survey of 71 pharmacists conducted between September 28, 2012 and March 3, 2013

Three quarters of the 71 pharmacists surveyed between September and March said they would not recommend the profession to their children.

The outlook appeared particularly bleak for independents, with four fifths of respondents expecting to see more consolidation in the pharmacy market.

Attitudes to the reformed NHS were more mixed, with 39 per cent believing the quality of NHS services would fall over the next five years and 36 per cent forecasting an improvement. This compared with a more pessimistic outlook among GPs, of whom nearly two thirds believed NHS services would get worse.

Service commissioning was the only topic to elicit a positive response from pharmacists. Nearly three quarters expected to take on more primary care services in the next five years and the same number said they intended to bid for additional services.

Financial and management service provider The Pharmacy Consultancy managing director Kevin Nichols said the combination of category M clawbacks and uncertainty over the future had "rocked morale". He said the pessimism among pharmacists was worrying, but forecast that concerns would "settle down gradually" over the next few years.

"While pharmacists are still fundamentally good businesses, they have felt under-appreciated and have faced a constant battle in these austere times," Mr Nichols said.

Rafique Bhojani, pharmacist and director of online pharmacy Order Line, was more uncertain about the profession's prospects. "It's a murky future and I can't see optimism on the horizon," he argued.

Mr Bhojani forecast that smaller pharmacies would fold under the pressure, enabling the multiples to "further flex their muscles".

The survey results were publiched shortly after healthcare experts forecast no rise in funding in the next pharmacy contract.

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