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The increasing number of pharmacists on the register should be regarded as an issue of under-utilisation of professional capability rather than a problem of oversupply, delegates at this year's RPS Conference were told. Asha Fowells reports.

It is important not to jump to conclusions about the increasing number of pharmacists on the register, RPS president Ash Soni told the Society's annual conference, pointing out that it was only a few years since the nursing profession had been concerned about reaching saturation point yet was now warning about a huge shortage.

Mr Soni highlighted the fact that the role of pharmacists was rapidly evolving (see panel below) and could lead to more being needed in the not-so-distant future. He cautioned against using the term €oversupply€ saying, €it gives the impression that we can be cheap, which in turn cheapens the responsibility we hold€.

Raminder Sahota, professional development senior manager at Boots UK, said that unfilled job vacancies throw doubt on the assertion that there are too many pharmacists. Instead, Ms Sahota highlighted how the changing nature of healthcare and working practices meant that both employers and employees had become more flexible in terms of salaried hours and the types of job people did.

For example, pharmacists might opt to work part-time in a city rather than move to a location where full-time work was readily available.

Not a numbers game...

Student voice

Duncan Craig, director of University College London's school of pharmacy, added his voice to the debate, saying that it was important not to forget about the students. Whether currently enrolled to read pharmacy or recent graduates, he warned that the almost continuous hype about a glut of pharmacists posed the very real danger of demotivating what were, after all, the pharmacy professionals of the future.

Given that the GPhC registration exam only admitted to the profession those who met set standards, it was important to not conflate quality and quantity, he said, adding that it was unfair the UK schools of pharmacy were frequently held accountable for the decline in the registration assessment pass rate. €All universities want to provide very high quality education and training for students,€ he said.

Undergraduates feel much the same, said Stephen Messham, public relations officer for the British Pharmaceutical Students' Association. Those who opted to do a pharmacy degree did so knowing that they would have to pay £36,000 worth of tuition fees and potentially accumulate student loans of up to £32,000 over the duration of the course, he said.

Most did this in the belief that they would get a job at the end, but Mr Messham admitted to some anxiety that currently enrolled MPharm students would not all find themselves pre-registration placements. Figures provided by Professor Craig show that pre-reg numbers have increased from 1,534 in 2003 to 2,842 in 2013.

Funding decisions

Changes to higher education funding over the past decade or so have meant that universities have been forced to make decisions about whether to chase research funding or admit more students in order to survive, said Professor Craig, who went on to suggest that those schools of pharmacy that had decided to go down the latter route had perhaps lowered entry criteria to get the numbers they needed. 

Mr Messham thought that students, universities and the profession itself would be better served if MPharm admission was made more rigorous by incorporating interviews and assessment centres into the process.

He also called for the MPharm degree to become more closely aligned with real-life pharmacy. €Students want more clinical and practice exposure, and want to know that good quality placements are available, not just in hospital, community or industry, but also in other sectors such as CCGs, GP surgeries and academia,€ he said.

Unfilled job vacancies throw doubt on the assertion that there are too many pharmacists