Pharmacy Workforce Wellbeing Report highlights importance of collaboration
Community Pharmacy England and others have committed to collaborative actions to help address pharmacy professionals’ mental health and wellbeing as part of a new report.
The Pharmacy Workforce Wellbeing Roundtable Summary has been published by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) and Pharmacist Support – the profession’s independent charity – following a roundtable discussion held in February 2024. Community Pharmacy England Director of Member and LPC Support, James Wood, was in attendance at the event alongside representatives from the NHS, professional bodies, employers, trade unions, educational bodies and regulators.
During the roundtable, participants discussed the importance of using data about the nature of the workforce to address challenges, raising awareness of the support resources available to pharmacy teams, and creating a supportive workplace culture conducive to wellbeing.
The new wellbeing roundtable report details the outcomes from the roundtable, including plans for collaborative efforts to amplify the reach of the RPS annual workforce wellbeing survey. Other actions include a pledge from the Company Chemists’ Association and the National Pharmacy Association to explore avenues to improve support for pharmacy managers, and a commitment to review existing regulatory standards and promote those supportive of individual and team wellbeing.
Whilst the meeting was held prior to Community Pharmacy England’s 2024 Pharmacy Pressures Survey, stakeholders recognised the value of data from surveys such as this one. The Medicines Supply Report out earlier this month revealed that 96% of pharmacy team members reported experiencing additional stress as a consequence of medicine supply issues. A further report on the findings of the survey will serve to highlight the impact of these immense pressures on the mental health and wellbeing of pharmacy teams.
This report is part of the continuous campaigning of various pharmacy bodies to promote the wellbeing of our pharmacy team members. The stakeholder group last met in September 2023 to discuss the impact of poor workforce wellbeing on pharmacy teams and consider how it might be addressed, and the group will reconvene again in six months’ time to assess progress and identify further actions.
