Introduction

This paper reports results from the second Community Pharmacy Survey undertaken by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) in conjunction with Community Pharmacy Scotland (CPS). Independent community pharmacies and pharmacies in the Company Chemists’ Association (CCA) were asked to supply information on staff and vacancies for the week of Monday 19th to Sunday 25th February 2018.

Results

Response rates


Eleven out of fourteen boards achieved a 100% response rate.

According to data from National Services Scotland (June 2018) there are 1256 dispenser codes in Scotland. Of these, CCA pharmacies account for 607 (48%) and non-CCA pharmacies account for 649 (52%).


Composition of the workforce

Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians and Support Staff

Excludes trainees and central staff. Support staff are Dispensing Assistants and Medicines Counter Assistants/Healthcare Assistants/Healthcare Partners

National headcount results show that there are 1753 Pharmacists, 1137 Pharmacy Technicians and 4133 Support Staff working in Scotland. Differences between headcount and Full Time Equivalent (FTE) numbers indicate the levels of part-time working.

Results are also presented by Region:

  • North Region, which consists of NHS Shetland, NHS Orkney, NHS Western Isles, NHS Highland, NHS Grampian, and NHS Tayside
  • East Region, which consists of NHS Lothian, NHS Fife, and NHS Borders
  • West Region, which consists of NHS GG&C, NHS Forth Valley, NHS Dumfries & Galloway, NHS Ayrshire & Arran, and NHS Lanarkshire

Numbers vary across Regions and NHS Boards.


National

Regional

Board


All roles

The following charts and tables present the data for all roles covered in the survey, including trainees and central staff where relevent. Medicines Counter Assistants, Healthcare Assistants, and Healthcare Partners are jointly referred to as Medicines Counter Assistants.

Pharmacists account for 21% of the overall FTE. The largest staff group is Dispensing Assistants which accounts for 30% of the overall FTE.

The distribution of roles is broadly similar in the CCA and Non-CCA sectors. Differences between headcount and FTE is greater for some roles in CCA pharmacies, indicating more part-tme working among, e.g. Dispensing assistants in this sector.

All roles (table)

All roles (chart)

By employer (chart)


Staff FTE change since 2016

2016 Survey responses for non-CCA pharmacies were weighted due to lower response rates, while 2018 results are unweighted. Results are therefore not strictly comparable and the chart below should be viewed in that context. Data for Central Staff were not collected in 2016.

Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians, Dispensing Assistants and Medicines Counter Assistants appear to have seen a reduction in FTE since 2016. One reason for the reduction in Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians may be the opportunities to work in General Practice created by the new GP contract.


Staff and vacancies by Role

The following sections present headcount, FTE and vacancy rates for each role group and role. Vacancy rate was calculated as FTE vacancies divided by establishment FTE, which was taken to be the sum of FTE and FTE Vacancies.

We also present the number of a given role per 10,000 people in each board. A national benchmark is shown on the charts as a dashed line and was calculated by summing the individual Board populations.

National headcount and FTE numbers for Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians and Support Staff (excluding trainees and central staff) can be found above in Composition of the Workforce - National.


Pharmacists

Staff and Vacancies Table

FTE Chart

FTE per 10,000


Pharmacy Technicians

Staff and Vacancies Table

FTE Chart

FTE per 10,000


Dispensing Assistants

Staff and Vacancies Table

FTE Chart

FTE per 10,000


Medicines Counter Assistants

Staff and Vacancies Table

FTE Chart

FTE per 10,000



This survey would not have been possible without the participation of Scottish community pharmacy contractors, the CCA, Scottish Community Pharmacy Champions and the Primary Care Community Pharmacy Leads Group. We thank them for their time and effort in providing the relevant data.