A recent snapshot survey of PDA members in January 2025 has highlighted some challenges experienced by frontline pharmacists, as well as hearing their suggestions for operational and service improvements.
Some of the key takeaways include:
- Despite the service being funded outside of the existing pharmacy contractual framework and funding envelope, 93% of the PDA members responding to the survey saw no increase in staffing levels to deliver the new service, and 65% received no protected time (or additional payment if outside of work hours) to complete essential training.
- 75% of respondents do not believe that the pharmacies in which they work are adequately staffed to safely deliver the Pharmacy First Service and other NHS contracted services.
- Most respondents supported the expansion of the service but the majority of those called for certain caveats to be in place. Examples included the assurance of protected learning time, or a second pharmacist being in place in their pharmacy to deal with the additional work and maintain patient safety levels.
- 98% of respondents believe that representatives of the pharmacist workforce should be part of discussions with the NHS/government and employer organisations when service expansions or new services are being considered.
Read the report of the survey below
Jay Badenhorst, PDA Director of Pharmacy said “The feedback from PDA members provides invaluable insight into their day-to-day experiences of providing the Pharmacy First Service. We thank all of those who took the time to take part.
We are aware of the impact that any new service implementation has on the workforce. The hurried introduction of the Pharmacy First Service, along with the volume of training which needed to be undertaken, was extremely challenging for those already working at capacity on the frontline of pharmacy in England.
Based on the survey, PDA members have suggested several improvements to deal with the additional demand and enhance the patients’ experience. These include ensuring appropriate staffing levels throughout the opening hours of pharmacies and considering key factors, such as protected learning time, before any new services are launched or future service expansions.
The PDA is calling for representatives of the pharmacy workforce to be involved in meaningful discussions with commissioners and contractors during service developments and how they are better resourced. This is to ensure that the perspective of pharmacists delivering the services are featured, from the onset, in any future pharmacy contractual framework developments.”
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