The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain has published its fourth Pharmacy
Workforce Census, reflecting the working patterns of pharmacists registered in August 2008.
The reports findings reveal changes in workforce patterns since the last census in 2005,
together with new and emerging trends in the workforce.
Census forms were sent out to all pharmacists with a registered address in Great Britain.

The
survey achieved a high response rate of 69.6%. Key findings included:

- The Register increased by 1.7% overall between August 2007 and August 2008. The
Register has grown by about 2% annually since 1991; therefore the increase is in keeping
with the previous upward trend.

- Pharmacists reported working the same mean number of hours as the 2005 census (35
hours), although men worked longer hours than women. The proportion of pharmacists
working 49 hours or more per week has risen by 1% since the last census.

- There has been a slight increase in the numbers of actively employed pharmacists working
part-time, with these pharmacists representing a significant proportion (32.3%) of the
working population. Part-time working (defined as working 32 hours or less) was most
prevalent in the primary care sector (39.5%).

- More than a third of pharmacists (41.9%) reported that they usually worked long hours and
this figure rose to 52.2% for male pharmacists.

- Almost a third of pharmacists (30.3%) felt that they didn’t have enough time to socialize
with their family and friends and a similar proportion (30.7%) wanted to reduce their
working hours, but felt they had no control.

- Male pharmacists consistently recorded higher scores for the work-life balance measures
than females, indicating that men may perceive they experience more problems with worklife
balance than females. The only exception to this was in the case of pharmacists
working part-time: male part-timers recorded lower work-life balance scores than females
working part-time.

- More than one in ten pharmacists (13.0%) are considering leaving the sector in which they
currently work within the next two years. A similar proportion (10.9%) are considering
quitting the profession altogether.

The findings provide full and fundamental data for the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)
when it is established in 2010, and will be used to help inform workforce planning and policy
development across the profession. Findings relating specifically to work/life balance will also
inform initiatives such as the Society’s ongoing workplace pressures campaign.
Sue Ambler, Head of Research and Development at the Society said: “Thank you to all those
pharmacists that took the time to complete and return the census questionnaire. The data will
be utilised to help identify how both the GPhC and the new professional leadership body can
further and strengthen support for pharmacists in their advancing and evolving roles.”
A copy of the report is available on the Society’s website:
http://www.rpsgb.org.uk/pdfs/census08.pdf

Notes

The research on which the Census report is based was commissioned by the Research
Division at the Society.
The research was undertaken by a team at the School of Pharmacy, University of Manchester
and funded by the Department of Health.
The 2008 Census report is the Society’s fourth. The first census was conducted in 2002, the
second in 2003 and the third in 2005.

Source
Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain

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