The CCA issued the following statement in response to the Community Pharmacy Workforce Survey 2023:
Malcolm Harrison, Chief Executive of the CCA said:
“We welcome the publication of Community Pharmacy Workforce Survey 2023 results.
For the second year running, there been an alarming decline in the number of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians practicing in the community. Over 1 in 5 pharmacist roles are vacant1.
As we have said before, the pharmacy workforce crisis is inhibiting the sector’s ability to deliver more for patients and the NHS.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan set out plans to increase the size of the pharmacist workforce. Over a year later, we have yet to see detail on how this will be delivered. Moreover, our concerns regarding the supply of Designated Prescribing Practitioners (DPPs) have yet to be addressed.
We need to now see immediate action taken to address this growing problem so that pharmacies have the long-term confidence to invest in the expansion of their workforce.”
References:
1 – See Community Pharmacy Workforce Survey 2023 – ‘Staffing and vacancies’. There were 3,950 full-time equivalent pharmacist vacancies and 17,666 full-time equivalent pharmacists.