Pharmacists have long been feeling stretched thin by low staffing levels — and have reported that workforce pressures are continuing unabated.
Conducted in May 2025, around 550 pharmacists responded to The Pharmaceutical Journal annual salary and job satisfaction survey. Many expressed deep-seated frustration at chronic staffing shortages — a phenomenon seen across community, hospital and primary care pharmacy.
This staffing deficit is compounded by financial pressures on pharmacies, increased clinical responsibility, the scale of the demand for the wider NHS and pharmacist burnout. Medicines shortages also continue to put additional pressures on pharmacists and their teams.
With the government recently launching a call for evidence to inform the development of the Ten Year Workforce Plan, The Pharmaceutical Journal looks at the survey findings to highlight some of the urgent workforce challenges putting pharmacy’s ability to deliver safe, effective care at risk.
Community pharmacists outlined how deeply staffing pressures are impacting their work. Survey responses told us they are often working alone, unable to take time off and are concerned about keeping patients waiting.
Safe service provision
A lack of appropriate staff can have an impact on pharmacists’ time, which can in turn impact patient safety.
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) recognises the importance of safe staffing levels and sets enforceable requirements for pharmacies to follow. Its standard on staffing says: “There are enough staff, suitably qualified and skilled, for the safe and effective provision of the pharmacy services provided.”
But this factor is the ninth most common point of failure in GPhC inspections conducted between January 2025 to July 2025, the regulatory body told The Pharmaceutical Journal.
Staff shortages
Survey respondents also revealed that staff shortages are rife.
This is not new: The Pharmaceutical Journal has repeatedly reported on hospital workforce issues. Mental health-related sick days are a growing concern in hospital staff, and only 15% of NHS trusts have the recommended staffing levels of emergency department pharmacists. Similarly, the number of pharmacists in specialist roles, such as respiratory pharmacists, is well below minimum levels.
Hospital pharmacist respondents say they are struggling to provide anything above a baseline level of care and their teams cannot fill vacant roles.
Rising stress levels in pharmacists
Almost all pharmacists responding to the survey told us that they have experienced stress at work (95%; n=553). This mirrors survey results from 2024, which indicated that yet another year has passed without measurable improvement in wellbeing for the pharmacy profession.
While high demand for services is the biggest stressor for pharmacists, a lack of staff is the second most significant factor.
Additional services driving demand
An expectation to deliver an increased number of services is also putting pharmacists under additional pressure. While the scope of pharmacists’ work has grown in recent years — for example with the rise of independent prescribing and the onset of Pharmacy First/minor ailments services — the number of staff hours has not grown to match.
This trend echoes a PDA survey, responses to which revealed that over 90% of pharmacists (n=924) say there has been no increase in staffing levels to help deliver Pharmacy First one year since its introduction in England.
Only one in five respondents (21%; n=558) said more staff had been employed in the past year to deliver additional services.
What’s next for the pharmacy workforce?
The survey results make for alarming reading and one thing is clear: without urgent and targeted investment in staffing and workforce development, pharmacists will continue to face huge pressures that limit the profession’s potential and put patient safety at risk.
As the new NHS workforce plan is still under development, alignment with the government’s ten-year health plan is essential, pharmacy must therefore not be an afterthought. While political leaders promise better training, career development and digital transformation — health secretary Wes Streeting has previously hinted that new technology will drive “big productivity gains in the system” — pharmacy organisations are calling for concrete commitments that reflect the profession’s growing clinical role.
Pharmacists and pharmacy teams need that clarity, support and resources to make a difference to patients and address the issues highlighted in this report. As in previous years, our data — summarised in this infographic — highlight the scale of the challenge, as well as the opportunity to shape a workforce strategy that safeguards safe care, while empowering pharmacists and pharmacy teams.
