As the only charity dedicated to our profession’s wellbeing, we deeply understand the pressures that pharmacists face, including the often overwhelming workload and the subsequent impact on mental health and wellbeing.

Over the past few years, burnout has consistently been raised as a key concern amongst the profession and in our latest Workforce Wellbeing survey held jointly with the RPS, 86% of pharmacists told us that they are at high risk of burnout. We were shocked to also understand that, even though 82% of pharmacists were offered a rest break (defined as a 20-minute uninterrupted rest), only 42% felt they could actually take it. The reasons given for not feeling able to take a break included workload, staffing levels and trying to take a break but getting continuously interrupted. A saddening 9% stated there was a culture in their workplace of staff expected not to take the break.

Burnout is a result of chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.

It is characterised by feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from a person’s job, and reduced professional efficacy … feelings that many pharmacists and pharmacy teams can relate to. At Pharmacist Support, raising awareness of how burnout has a substantial impact on wellbeing is crucial to our mission and we have a clear focus on providing proactive support (through the provision of tools, resources and training) for employers and managers to create the right working environment and workplace culture.

For the most part, being in employment can generate benefits that outweigh the adverse effects of long-term unemployment or sickness absence, such as camaraderie, a sense of meaning and purpose, and intellectual stimulation. One of the key questions is whether employees feel they are getting a sense of meaning and purpose from their work – something which we would naturally take as a given for pharmacists, yet we understand that poor working conditions and pressures in the workplace can consequently prevent some pharmacists from putting patients first.

Other factors which have detrimental effects on staff wellbeing are poor working environments, unrealistic deadlines, poor communication, poor interpersonal relationships, too much responsibility and a lack of management support.

When we look at burnout, it’s not that work in and of itself is a bad thing, but that there are certain practices that lead to good work and other practices that can lead to burnout and other mental health challenges.

If there is a fundamental issue of burnout within an organisation, no matter how big or small the organisation is, this suggests that there are structural and operational issues which need to be addressed. However, it is important to understand the vital role that line managers and leaders play on their team’s mental health and wellbeing.

At the beginning of 2024, we launched a brand-new training course for pharmacy managers, leaders and supervisors called Embracing a Workplace Wellbeing Culture.

The aim of the training is to empower professionals in the pharmacy sector with the knowledge and tools to foster a positive and supportive workplace culture and create healthy working environments with wellbeing at the core. The online course covers 6 modules including understanding mental health and wellbeing, communication tools to support staff and building resilience within the team. It is our hope that the course enables participants to encourage open and honest conversations about mental health and wellbeing in pharmacy and be a driver for positive change.

One recent participant told us: “What I found different about this course is that it also delves into understanding mental health better (and is not afraid to do so). Many traditional leadership training courses cover various theories and how to implement them. This course focuses on how to create a wellbeing culture in the workplace — with the current climate and pressures we are working under in all sectors of pharmacy, this is very much needed”.

The course has been developed by our mental health and wellbeing experts and draws on extensive research and industry insights to ensure participants can take away practical strategies that can be implemented immediately, creating a workplace where their team can thrive, be more engaged and ultimately deliver better care to patients.

You can find full details of the course and how to sign up on our website if you’re interested for yourself or your employees.