Academics are investigating the effect of community pharmacists' working conditions on patient safety.

Researchers at the Centre of Pharmacy Workforce Studies at the University of Manchester will study how pharmacists become safe practitioners and the factors that influence their development during their first few years of qualifying.

The researchers, funded by charity Pharmacy Research UK, have invited pharmacists who qualified between 2007 and 2012 to complete an anonymous 20-minute questionnaire by visiting Manchester Pharmacy School's website.

Existing research showed the number of staff in the dispensary, the type of dispensary system and the length of time the pharmacist had been practising could all contribute to whether mistakes were made in the pharmacy, the researchers said.

How recently qualified community pharmacists learn to manage the pressures they experience at work needs investigating, said researchers at the Centre of Pharmacy Workforce Studies	More news on working conditions Take the C+D Salary Survey 2013 Pharmacy owners have worst work-life balance, C+D finds Workplace stress prompts 81 per cent of pharmacists to consider quitting MORE NEWS
	"The question of how community pharmacists who have recently qualified learn to manage the pressures they experience at work... is therefore one that needs investigating," they said, adding that the results of the study would help ensure patient safety and reinforce "the foundations of professionalism".

Last year, the C+D Salary Survey 2012 found that 44 per cent of employee pharmacists felt that workplace pressures had affected the service they provided to patients, compared with 41 per cent in 2011.

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