The survey of 1,496 pharmacy respondents – carried out from September 20 to October 14 2022 and published today – revealed that 73% had considered leaving their role or the profession entirely.

This marks an increase from on 2021 results – which revealed that 33% had considered leaving their role and the same percentage had considered leaving the profession altogether.

Almost half (49%) of the respondents to the 2022 survey said they worked in a community pharmacy.

The survey also revealed that:

• 88% of respondents were at high risk of burnout
• Just 31% of pharmacists rated their mental health as good or very good
• 34% said they were frequently unable to take a break
• 44% had experienced physical or verbal abuse in the past six months.

The top factors cited for poor mental health and wellbeing included inadequate staffing (70%), lack of work-life balance (53%), lack of protected learning time (48%), and lack of colleague or senior support (47%).

 

Community pharmacists at highest risk of burnout

 

The RPS acknowledged that colleagues working in community pharmacy were at a higher risk of burnout (96%) compared to those in other sectors (80%).

It added that community respondents were also more likely to rate their mental health as poor (45%) compared against the average (37%) and be less likely to be offered protected learning time (5% versus an average of 22%).

And a higher number of respondents working in community pharmacy (20%) reported not being offered breaks compared to all other sectors (8%), the RPS said.

They were also more likely to experience verbal or physical abuse from patients and the public than colleagues in other pharmacy sectors (69% versus an average of 44%), it found. 

 

“I hate this job”

 

Anonymous comments included in the survey revealed how pressurised pharmacists feel, with one respondent saying they are “utterly exhausted and cannot express how much I hate this job”.

Another said: “Something must be done about the staffing levels in the pharmacy sector. Everyone I speak to suffers because of this. It’s ruining our health.”

Meanwhile, one respondent characterised the profession as “underfunded, understaffed, underpaid, underappreciated, overworked but [we are] all expected to carry on with a smile on our faces for the customer's sake”.

The survey found that just over three-quarters (76%) of respondents were aware of occupational health and wellbeing support services. But 15% said they were not able to access these services.

Read more: Primary care recovery plan: Barclay wants pharmacists to do 'even more'

RPS president Professor Claire Anderson said: “With pharmacy teams at risk of burnout, governments urgently need to improve workforce planning for pharmacy that addresses head-on the issues of skill mix and adequate staffing which are at the heart of overload in pharmacy. 

“The recruitment and retention of pharmacists and their teams is crucial if the ambitions for pharmacy to play a key role in the future NHS are to be delivered. Planning must be backed by long-term investment and training from both employers and governments to make work more rewarding and improve career pathways.”

Read more: NHS workforce plan must include community pharmacy, sector urges

She added that the initiative to increase in the number of pharmacists training to become independent prescribers “can only work if it is underpinned by protected learning time rather than expecting people to undertake professional development at the end of a long working day, which is totally unacceptable”.

“We look forward to working with stakeholders and governments to inform workforce planning for pharmacy which is also a common theme in the RPS visions for pharmacy across England, Scotland and Wales,” she said.

 

"Disturbing statistics”

 

Chief executive of charity Pharmacist Support Danielle Hunt said: “For the fourth year running, this report exposes some disturbing statistics. The state of mental health and wellbeing in pharmacy is a huge concern, with the risk of burnout of those working within the profession remaining worryingly high.”

The report’s results “echo many of the individual stories…from those who come to the charity for support”, she added.

“During the past year, we have experienced a large increase in the number of people reaching out for counselling and looking to share their own experiences with mental health and wellbeing via our ACTNow campaign”, she said.

Ms Hunt also set out that there is “an immediate need for employers to consider what they can do to support positive wellbeing”.

Pharmacist Support will provide tools, training and support for pharmacy leaders to help them embed “positive wellbeing practices into the workplace” in 2023, she said.

This survey is the fourth the RPS has run in partnership with Pharmacist Support on the mental and physical state of Britain’s pharmacists in the workplace.