More than 40% of pharmacists say their work has a “significant negative impact” on their wellbeing, new research by the Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) has revealed.
The PDA’s survey of almost 1,100 pharmacists, published yesterday, also found that “only around half” have a “three-month emergency savings buffer”.
And fewer than a third of pharmacists “feel they have meaningful career progression opportunities”, it said.
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The survey found that only one in three respondents “feel encouraged and supported to discuss wellbeing concerns at work”, while just a fifth think their line managers “are trained to support staff wellbeing”.
Fewer than a quarter of pharmacists said wellbeing is “routinely discussed in performance or development conversations”, and just one in 10 reported seeing “visible action taken” after staff wellbeing feedback was received.
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The PDA said work absences related to mental health are “underreported” - and disclosure to managers is “described as extremely low” due to “fear of judgement, stigma and lack of trust that anything will change”.
Most pharmacists said they “have access to the basic tools and training needed to do their job”, it added, but protected learning time was identified as “one of the weakest areas in the whole survey”.
“Consistent and concerning”
The PDA said the survey findings present a “consistent and concerning picture of a profession under sustained pressure”.
It added that the environments pharmacists work in are “often not psychologically safe, do not consistently support healthy workload management and do not provide the development time or financial security needed for a sustainable career”.
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The trade union called for “urgent structural and cultural reform” to address the issues, as well as “safer routes to raise concerns, stronger workload management, protected learning time and more practical wellbeing support”.
“These measures will be essential to ensuring that the pharmacy workforce is supported, resilient and able to meet future demands,” it said.
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It comes after Community Pharmacy England (CPE) last month announced that it has set up a five-pronged programme to tackle patient violence and abuse in pharmacies.
The programme follows CPE survey findings published in March revealing that abusive behaviour is a “daily occurrence” for pharmacy workers.
