The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has launched its 2025 Workforce Wellbeing Survey, with a specific focus on pharmacy students, foundation trainees and early career pharmacists.
Run in partnership with Pharmacist Support, the British Pharmaceutical Students’ Association (BPSA) and the Pharmacy Schools Council (PhSC), the aim of this year’s survey is to build a clearer picture of mental health, wellbeing and workplace expectations among the profession’s newest members.
Now in its seventh year, the RPS and Pharmacist Support wellbeing programme has previously explored the impact of workplace culture across pharmacy teams, with findings feeding into resources such as professional support services and wellbeing leadership training.
For 2025, a student survey has been co-designed with BPSA and PhSC, which focuses on wellbeing, study experiences and expectations of workplace support.
A second survey, for foundation trainees and early-career pharmacists, covers working conditions, mental health and support needs during the early stages of practice.
The results will inform the work of all four partner organisations, with the aim of identifying both barriers to progression and enablers of job satisfaction, as well as shaping future services and advocacy.
Previous RPS wellbeing surveys
The 2024 RPS Wellbeing Survey, the results of which were published in February, highlighted the impact of medicines shortages on pharmacy staff wellbeing.
Some 56% of respondents across all pharmacy settings said that their mental health and wellbeing had been impacted by medication shortages within the past 12 months. Some 24% of pharmacy professionals working in hospitals said their patients had been put at risk as a result of these shortages.
The survey also revealed that inadequate staffing was affecting wellbeing for 70% of pharmacy professionals, with just 35% of pharmacists able to take their breaks, and just 34% of pharmacists reported enjoying their work – down from 52% in 2023.
This 2023 survey revealed that almost nine in 10 hospital pharmacists were at high risk of burnout, with inadequate staffing (69%), lack of work-life balance (52%), insufficient protected learning time (50%), absence of colleague or senior support (46%) and long working hours (42%) attributing to the burnout risk.
In addition, 37% of respondents working in hospital pharmacy reported that their mental health had been ‘poor or very poor’ over the past 12 months.
Supporting pharmacists throughout their careers
Commenting on the new wellbeing surveys, Professor Claire Anderson, RPS president, said: ‘People experience different pressures at all stages of their pharmacy career and wellbeing should be a priority right from the very start.
‘This survey will help ensure the voices of students, trainees and early career pharmacists are heard and that meaningful support is provided where it’s needed most.’
Danielle Hunt, chief executive of Pharmacist Support, said: ‘These insights will be vital in shaping the preventative, evidence-based support and resources we provide. Together with our partners, we want to build a culture where wellbeing is prioritised from the very start of a pharmacy career and continues throughout working life.’
BPSA president Martina Aikon and Cate Whittlesea, speaking on behalf of the PhSC, both welcomed the surveys and said they would help to identify where additional support is required from the earliest stages of pharmacy training.
Both surveys will remain open until 5pm on Tuesday 2 December.
The launch of the 2025 surveys coincides with the Government’s call for evidence to help inform the forthcoming NHS workforce plan.
Responding to this call for evidence, the RPS shared case studies and evidence on topics such as recruitment and retention, including support for pharmacists’ wellbeing, and the importance of a supportive development pathway and assurance to support pharmacists’ evolving role in patient care.
Recruitment and retention was the focus of a flexible working survey within the pharmacy department at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, which led to the implementation of strategies to maintain a positive working environment and better support pharmacists in their roles, as well as ensuring safe and effective patient care.
