Community pharmacists at independents are happier with their choice of career than those working at the two biggest multiples – Boots and Lloydspharmacy – while those at Co-operative Pharmacy rate their jobs the highest, the C+D Salary Survey 2012 has found.

Thirty-two per cent of pharmacist branch managers and non-manager pharmacists working for a company with one to five pharmacies said they were happy with their choice of career and current position, compared to 16 per cent of those working for Boots and 28 per cent of those working for Lloydspharmacy.

Pharmacist branch managers and non-manager pharmacists at the Co-operative Pharmacy were the happiest with their career choice, with 41 per cent saying they were happy in their current position. While 35 per cent at both Boots and Lloydspharmacy said they were disillusioned with pharmacy and would like to move out of the profession, only 25 per cent at Co-operative Pharmacy expressed the same opinion.

Forty-one per cent of Co-op pharmacists said they were happy in their current position, compared to 32 per cent at independents, 28 per cent at Lloyds and 16 per cent at Boots

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Forty-one per cent of about 100 pharmacists working in independents surveyed said they would recommend pharmacy as a career, compared to 34 per cent of around 300 employee pharmacists at the three big multiples who answered the question. Seventy per cent of employee pharmacists at Boots (156 respondents) would not recommend pharmacy as a career compared to 65 per cent at Lloydspharmacy (129) and 56 per cent at Co-operative Pharmacy (43).

"Clearly the challenge on funding is putting pressure on everyone in the industry to deliver more for less – this creates uncertainty and disillusionment for individuals," Co-operative Pharmacy head of HR Janet McNally told C+D. But the multiple was working hard to support its managers, she added.  

A Lloydspharmacey spokesperson said its pharmacists were doing their best to adapt to these challenging conditions while focusing on patient care. 

And a Boots spokesperson said the C+D Salary Survey 2012 was representative of "only a small number" of their pharmacists and that Boots would "continue to support and offer career opportunities where we can".