Pharmacists are experiencing ‘moral injury‘ as a result of medicines shortages, with more than half of pharmacy professionals reporting that the issue has impacted their mental health and wellbeing, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has found.
Its most recent workforce wellbeing 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% last year.
The most recent survey, conducted in October and November 2024 and completed by more than 6,000 professionals, included both pharmacists and pharmacy technicians for the first time.
Distributed by the RPS, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and the wellbeing charity Pharmacist Support, it had the largest and broadest sample of the RPS wellbeing surveys to date.
But the RPS noted that while this most recent survey was ‘likely to be more representative of the GB pharmacy workforce‘ than previous years, it was still ‘not likely to represent all pharmacy professionals‘.
Impact of medicines shortages on wellbeing
For the first year, the RPS Workforce and Wellbeing Survey 2024 asked respondents about the impact of medicine shortages.
Some 56% of respondents across all pharmacy settings said that their mental health and wellbeing has 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 medication shortages, which rose to half of those working in community pharmacy and general practice (52% and 47% respectively).
Some 42% said they had experienced verbal abuse within the workplace within the last six months, with 49% citing medicine shortages as a reason.
And 11% of those who had experienced verbal abuse said this had come from a colleague or manager.
RPS president Professor Claire Anderson commented: ‘Pharmacy teams want to do everything possible to provide the medicines their patients need, and it’s deeply distressing when they can’t. This sense of “moral injury“ – of knowing what patients need but being unable to deliver it due to circumstances beyond their control – is taking a heavy toll on their wellbeing.
‘Medicine shortages are not just a supply chain issue; they are a human issue, with real impacts on pharmacy teams working tirelessly to support the patients who rely on them. Finding solutions are essential not only for the wellbeing of the workforce but for ensuring safe and effective patient care.‘
She added that the survey results ‘demonstrate the human cost of coping with the relentless workplace pressures‘, and concluded that ‘we need collaborative efforts from governments, employers and the NHS to tackle the pressures on frontline pharmacy teams and create more supportive work environments‘.
The Pharmacists‘ Defence Association (PDA) said it was ‘not surprised by the results shared by the RPS around medicines shortages‘.
A spokesperson said: ‘We hear this from listening to our members, for example a survey of PDA members around medicines shortages found that 83% were worried about the impact on their patients and their health, over 75% were worried about the impact on the pharmacy team, and over 72% find the pressure of trying to source medicines stressful and impacts on their mental health and wellbeing. 81% of pharmacists completing the survey had also experienced patients taking their frustration about medicines availability out on them.‘
In March 2024, the RPS announced plans to launch a new project to investigate the causes of medicines shortages and help reduce their impact on patients and pharmacy practice.
Inadequate staffing and mental health
A higher proportion of pharmacists as compared to pharmacy technicians were unable to take their rest breaks – at 47% of pharmacists compared to 35% of pharmacy technicians.
Some 44% of respondents working in hospital pharmacy said they were offered sufficient protected learning time compared to 68% in general practice but only 35% in community pharmacy.
The most common reasons given for negative impacts on mental health and wellbeing were:
- Inadequate staffing (70%)
- Lack of work-life balance (49%)
- Increased financial pressures (47%)
- Lack of protected learning time (47%)
- Lack of colleague or senior support (47%)
- Long working hours (34%).
The RPS, Pharmacist Support and the Association of Pharmacy Technicians UK said they would convene a roundtable in mid-March to review these findings with the NHS, professional bodies, employers, trade unions and regulators.
How representative was the 2024 RPS wellbeing survey?
Of the 6,598 RPS Workforce and Wellbeing Survey 2024 respondents, 67% were pharmacists (4,342), while 30% (1,962) were pharmacy technicians. The remaining 3% were foundation or trainee pharmacists, MPharm students, or others.
The majority of respondents (82%) were based in England, with 11% in Scotland and 6% in Wales.
Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians working in hospital pharmacy made up 26% of respondents, while 46% worked in community pharmacy, 12% in general practice and 3% in academia or education. A further 11% worked in other settings such as care homes, NHS 111 or mental health services.
Some 40% of all respondents were RPS members.
Of those who answered optional inclusion and diversity questions on ethnicity, 73% of respondents were White, of which 95% were English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish or British. A total of 14% were Asian or British Asian, of which 50% were Indian and 20% were Chinese, and 4% were Black, African, Caribbean or Black British, of which 85% were African and 13% were Caribbean, the RPS said.
A version of this article was originally published by our sister publication The Pharmacist.
