GPhC publishes second major survey involving 18,000 pharmacy professionals

The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has published the findings of its second major survey, which asked pharmacists and pharmacy technicians about their roles and responsibilities, work settings, employment and practice and future work plans.

The GPhC commissioned Enventure Research, an independent research organisation, to carry out the survey over summer 2019. Over 18,000 registered pharmacy professionals (23% of professionals on the register) responded to the online survey.

The findings provide useful insights into pharmacy professionals’ work, training, professional practice and future plans. They also include comparisons with the findings from the last major survey of pharmacy professionals carried out in 2013, to show how the pharmacy professions have changed in the last six years. *

The 2019 survey also asked questions about job satisfaction and work-life balance for the first time. The majority of pharmacy professionals (60% of pharmacists and 74% of pharmacy technicians) reported they were satisfied in their main job, with 50% of pharmacists and 64% of pharmacy technicians reporting they were satisfied with their work-life balance.

The GPhC will be reviewing the outputs of the registrants’ survey for any insights that may need to be considered in relation to its policy or operational work. The findings are also being shared with a wide range of organisations with an interest in the pharmacy workforce, to inform their own work. This includes organisations involved in workforce planning across Great Britain, including Health Education England (HEE), NHS Education for Scotland (NES), and Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW).

Duncan Rudkin, Chief Executive of the GPhC said:

“I want to thank all those who responded to the survey as every response helps build a picture of pharmacy practice today. We know that the pharmacy sector is changing at pace, and the information gained through the survey underlines this.

“We will be using this information to help us regulate effectively at this time of change. We know that many other organisations will also find these results very useful to inform their work, and we hope that pharmacy professionals find this helpful in increasing their understanding of the professions and environments in which they work”.

*The findings in the report are based on the survey data and not the data from the GPhC register.

The GPhC has published a survey report hub on its website where you can read more details of the survey. You can aces these web pages here.

The infographic summary below has been shared on Pharmacy in Practice with permission from the GPhC.