Pharmacists are weighed down with the strain of coping with their workload, the stress of the job and numerous other concerns, according to alarming new research.

Workload and stress are the main challenges facing pharmacists today in their day-to-day practice. Three-quarters are “extremely” or “very” concerned about coping, according to a survey of pharmacists’ attitudes by CIG Research, a division of Communications International Group, publisher of Pharmacy Magazine.

We can exclusively reveal that pharmacists working in multiples are more worried about stress and overwork than their counterparts in independent outlets. Pharmacists in multiples are also equally as concerned about meeting targets – something that is much less of an issue for independents, who rank funding, stock shortages, regulatory demands, and GPhC inspections as greater challenges.

Almost three-quarters of the pharmacists we surveyed are concerned about keeping their CPD up to date, while two in three are “extremely” or “very” concerned about managing staff issues and the shift from medicines supply to clinical services. Dealing with Government policy changes is a concern for 58 per cent, while 47 per cent are worried about the effect of robotics and hub and spoke dispensing on supply.

The electronic prescription service and reliability of the NHS Spine, commissioning of new services, skill mix, training and CPD are all cited as important issues. Less pressing but still significant challenges include relationships with GPs and retail competition.

Other challenges raised by pharmacists include lack of staff and/or staff shortages, meeting patients’ expectations and dealing with hard-tomanage patients. A lack of recognition for their work within the larger companies, or of their status in the community, was also identified.

This survey of community pharmacists’ attitudes was carried out among 593 UK pharmacists during December 2015 and January 2016. The sample included managers, locums and independent proprietors, and those who work in branches of multiple groups, independents, GP practices and head offices. CIG Research also carried out a remuneration survey.

Professional roles

The majority of female pharmacists find their job more professionally rewarding now than when they started, but only four in 10 men think the same. Locums are least likely to say their job is professionally rewarding, while proprietors are most likely.

Over half of male pharmacists and just under half of females feel that their professional status is growing in the community. Independents are more positive about their status than those working in multiples, while locums are particularly negative with none of them feeling strongly that their status is growing.

Pharmacists have clear views about what their role should be, with almost four in five feeling strongly that they should be promoting self-care. More than nine in 10 believe that their role should be in preventative healthcare, and almost as many think they should be responsible for managing longterm illness as well as providing acute and emergency care (a view more strongly held among those working in independents). There is universal agreement that a pharmacist’s role is to optimise the use of medicines.

There is also overwhelming support for the view that pharmacists should work with GPs, and that they will increasingly act as advisers, providing cognitive services rather than dispensing. Four in five expect to be increasingly responsible for prescribing.

Little difference

There is generally little difference between the various groups in terms of their views on professional roles. While two-thirds of all pharmacists agree that pharmacy is fundamentally about medicines supply, this view is supported more by men than by women, and much more by proprietors than by locums. Independent proprietors feel least strongly that pharmacists should work with GPs, while female pharmacists are much more positive about this idea than men – and those in multiples much more so than those in independents.

For all job functions, dispensing/checking is the most time-consuming part of the working day, accounting for 37 per cent of working time on average. Pharmacy teams spend 19 per cent of their time dealing with customers and their healthcare needs,12 per cent on consultations in the consulting room, 9 per cent on training and 11 per cent on business management.

Pharmacists in multiples claim to spend 11 per cent of their time dealing with stock issues, compared to 16 per cent for those working in independent pharmacies. Pharmacists in independents spend 21 per cent of their time on business management compared to just 14 per cent among those in multiples. Half of all respondents are responsible for managing the business in which they work, and a further 22 per cent contribute to the process.

The average number of prescription items dispensed last year per pharmacy according to our survey was 8,211 per month and, for eight in 10 of those questioned, scripts represent 60 per cent or more of their turnover, while for half of pharmacists services represent under 20 per cent. Overall, prescriptions represented, on average, 64 per cent of turnover, OTC sales accounted for 20 per cent and services 16 per cent.

Services

Half of all pharmacists see flu vaccination and MURs/NMS as extremely important to the future of community pharmacy. Three-quarters view the management of long-term conditions, sexual health, blood pressure monitoring, and preventative/screening services as very or extremely important. Just over half believe cancer support is very or extremely important.

At least three in four pharmacists consider smoking cessation, medicines management for the elderly and asthma management as very or extremely important. More than half think the following services are important to the future of community pharmacy: drug misuse; needle exchange; obesity management; anticoagulation monitoring; and e-pharmacy and home delivery.

The views of pharmacists in independents and multiples differ only slightly on most services, but vary significantly on flu vaccination, needle exchange programmes and drug misuse services, which are all rated more important by those in multiples. The opportunity to offer inpharmacy tests or home test kits for various health concerns is popular, with the majority wanting to offer cholesterol testing, blood glucose monitoring, BMI measurement, UTI testing, iron-deficiency screening, chlamydia testing and thyroid function testing.

Professional bodies

When asked which professional body or representative organisation offers the most support, pharmacists do not spontaneously refer to any one in particular. No individual organisation is mentioned by more than one in 12 pharmacists, who are more likely to feel supported by their employer.

Almost two-thirds of the pharmacists in this sample are members of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, while 82 per cent of the employees who responded belong to the Pharmacists’ Defence Association; 83 per cent of the independent pharmacies in the survey are NPA members.

The organisation most likely to be joined next year is the PDA, with the remaining 18 per cent of employees saying they planned to become members. Membership of the RPS is predicted to increase to 74 per cent, while the UK Clinical Pharmacy Association’s membership would treble if all those planning to join did so.

Member ratings are highest for the PDA and NPA, which are both rated as “good” or “excellent” by the majority of their members. The lowest support ratings are for the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies, with only 36 per cent of members rating it “excellent” or “good.”

Less than a third of Royal Pharmaceutical Society members think the organisation is well run, represents them well, is forward looking, or value for money. At least four in 10 of respondents do not rate the organisations of which they are members highly for listening to them. With the exception of the PDA, all other organisations surveyed are rated highly by only a minority of their members for representing them well.

Workload and stress are the main challenges facing pharmacists today