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Counselling referrals for pharmacists increased by almost one-quarter in 2024, according to the charity Pharmacist Support.
In its ‘2024 Impact Report‘, published on 18 July 2025, the charity said it made 23% more referrals to counselling services in 2024 compared with the previous year. It delivered 439 counselling sessions during 2024.
The report highlighted a 27% increase in bursary applications in 2024 compared with 2023, with £35,000 awarded in student bursaries, as well as more than £192,000 awarded in general grants.
“2024 marked the final year of our five-year strategy, which overall has led to an increased recognition of the charity, resulting in a significant rise in financial assistance requests, reflecting the impact of the cost of living crisis on the pharmacy profession,” the charity said.
Reflecting on the past five years, ahead of launching its five-year strategy for 2025-2030, Pharmacist Support added that it had funded more than 2,500 counselling sessions to the end of 2024 since launching its counselling service in 2021.
It also said it had awarded almost £194,000 in bursaries to 40 students between 2020 and 2024.
Grants worth almost £700,000 were awarded during the same four-year period — an 82% increase between 2020 and 2024.
The impact report also highlighted the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s (RPS) 2024 ‘Workforce wellbeing survey’, which was conducted jointly by Pharmacist Support and the RPS.
The survey results, published in February 2025, revealed that 87% of respondents had experienced burnout in 2024, while 91% of respondents working in community pharmacy were at a high risk of burnout.
As part of its five-year strategy, the charity said it would deliver “tailored support that reflects the evolving needs of the pharmacy workforce”.
Esther Sadler-Williams, chair of trustees at Pharmacist Support, said: “This final year of our five-year strategy has seen us deliver more support than ever before and be recognised nationally for our work on wellbeing.
“As we close this chapter, we’re proud of what we’ve achieved — particularly in how we’ve responded to the growing needs of the profession — and excited to launch our new strategy, which builds on this momentum and sets out a bold vision for the next five years.”
Claire Anderson, president of the RPS, commented: “Pharmacists are continuously being asked to deliver transformational change while facing significant workplace pressures, staff shortages and insufficient protected learning time.
“This year’s report shows the consequences of this, and the rise in counselling referrals and bursary applications is a reminder of the ongoing mental health and financial challenges impacting our workforce.”
“We welcome Pharmacist Support’s continued efforts to meet this growing need — particularly through faster financial support and the expansion of its counselling and ‘Listening Friends’ service,” she added.
