Community pharmacy workforce figures issued
June 20 2018
Data for the community pharmacy workforce in England indicates that 96,506 people were working in the sector in 2017.
Health Education England’s survey had responses from 86% of England’s community pharmacies, allowing to calculate that the workforce comprised:
- 23,284 pharmacists;
- 7,901 registered pharmacy technicians;
- 27,510 trained dispensing assistants;
- 17,519 trained medicine counter assistants.
It also identified that 547 pharmacists were qualified as Independent Prescribers (excluding London and Thames Valley).
PSNC has flagged up the initial data, with HEE due to publish a full report shortly which will discuss the findings in more detail.
It said the HEE survey “was conducted in order to better understand the current numbers and skill-mix of the workforce and to help inform planning and future investment.
“The survey enabled researchers to establish the size and profile of the community pharmacy workforce in England. Additionally, the data provided HEE with useful information on training priorities and identified variation across regions, particularly around issues such as vacancy rates and roles considered difficult to fill.”
Links:
PSNC announcement