PGEU Position Paper on Pharmacists Workforce Shortages
Position PapersCommunity pharmacists play a key role in primary care and are the most easily accessible among all healthcare professionals. However, similar to recent developments in other healthcare fields, the shortage of community pharmacists has become a pressing concern with a potentially significant impact on public health, patient care, and the overall viability of healthcare systems.
Belgium: How to make the pharmacist’s profession more attractive
The National Pharmacists Association (APB) developed 3 working groups aiming at discussing the matter of pharmacy workforce shortages. The working group on “Offer” worked and liaised with the universities, with the objective on working on the conditions for pharmacy studies. The working group on “Demand”, explored the topics of automatization, delegation to technicians, and other topics directly linked with the pharmacy practice. The working group dealing with the “Attractiveness” of the profession, searched on how new services have been explored.
Currently APB is trying to put into place new services to value the profession and promote it through the new generations, so that high school students would feel more inclined to choose a pharmacy degree. The early integration in pharmacy teams through internships and appropriate remuneration have been discussed as possible tools to increase uptake of new professionals.
Estonia: Navigating through a shortage of pharmacists
Estonia is currently experiencing a shortage of pharmacists. The condition is becoming more critical as the demographic situation is quite difficult, since 50% of the profession is older than 50 years old, and 20% of the profession is older than 65 years. In general, it is noted that the profession is not so attractive for young people, as there are long working hours, shifts, and other professions have much more appealing conditions. This is also conditioned by the fact that many pharmacies are located in shopping centers, with extended period of working hours (e.g., from 10:00 to 21:00).
In Estonia there are 2 Universities that offer degrees in the pharmacy field – one degree that comprises a 3-year course (farmatseut), and one degree that comprises a 5-year study cycle (proviisori). Currently there is a collaboration with the Universities in Estonia that offer pharmacy degrees, so they can offer both three- and five-years pharmacy degrees in order to attract more students.
The National Pharmacists Association is also helping universities to find students to fill the available vacancies, so the workforce can be further strengthened. Data from 2023 shows that only 3 out of 25 students were accepted at the university for the pharmacy degree.
France: A Roadmap to anticipate demographic trends
In France, all branches of the pharmacy sector experience shortages of pharmacists. Over the last three years, the pharmacy sector has consistently ranked amongst the five sectors where it is most difficult to recruit personnel, and, in the 2024 survey, 83% of recruitments were considered difficult. Ministerial statistics show it is expected that the number of pharmacists will decrease until 2027.
The relevant institutions in France are currently working in numerous directions, on the evolution of the profession, by promoting pharmacy amongst young people and students, on a recruiting programme that includes community pharmacy. In this context, the French Chamber of Pharmacists adopted a specific roadmap with two key goals: to make the profession more attractive, and to anticipate demographic trends. This is implemented in connection with other interested parties, such as students and pharmacists’ representatives and deans of faculties of pharmacies.
The first key goal of the roadmap is to make the profession more attractive. To this end, the Chamber promotes pharmacy amongst young people and students, collaborating with national information bodies on presentations of the profession, and creating various communications material to reach the young audience, including:
These actions may be starting to make an impact, as the proportion of empty pharmacy students’ seats is dropping (1,100 seats out of 3,800 at the beginning of the University year 2022/2023 vs. 293 in 2024/2025).
Making the profession more attractive also entails actions to simplify professional retraining, and to build bridges between the different branches of pharmacy, including through the ongoing reform of pharma studies. Another path that is explored is to simplify the recognition of pharmacy diplomas in France. As for practicing pharmacists, the Chamber also recently created a specific committee made of and for pharmacists newly authorised to practice.
To anticipate demographic trends, the Chamber also commissioned a qualitative and quantitative prospective study of pharmaceutical demographics. It will use micro-simulation to model trends in pharmaceutical demographics up to 2050, as a whole but also more precisely for each branch of the pharmacy profession; it also aims at identifying and assessing factors that will influence these projections.
Germany: A campaign for young people
The ABDA – Federal Association of German Pharmacists’ Associations – is launching a new type of campaign for young people in the pharmacy professions. The main target group of the campaign are young people who are undecided about their careers. The diverse content of the campaign will be shown primarily on social media channels. ABDA expects that by the end of this decade there will be a shortage of up to 10,000 pharmacists in pharmacies in order to maintain the supply of medicines to patients close to home.
Ireland: Strategic Workforce Planning as a basis to counteract shortages of professionals
Ireland has been experiencing a shortage of pharmacists for a long time now. Despite the fact that the number of pharmacists on the register is average when compared to OECD statistics. The register of pharmacists in Ireland does not distinguish the number of full-time equivalents or their availability to work so it is difficult to ascertain the true availability.
The number of pharmacy students trained in Ireland is quite low in comparison. The Higher Education Authority in Ireland has commenced a process to increase both the number of pharmacy student places and the number providers with plans set to double the places available for students to take a pharmacy degree.
The pharmacy regulator in Ireland commissioned in 2023 a Report on the Pharmacy Workforce, drawing recommendations to ensure the future sustainability of the pharmacist workforce in Ireland. The report is the culmination of significant work and commitment by the PSI and other stakeholders during 2022 and 2023 as part of the ‘Emerging Risks to the Future Pharmacy Workforce’ project.
This report made several recommendations and associated actions following extensive consultation and engagement trough triangulation of evidence from a literature review, workforce survey and focus groups. The evidence presented sets out the basis for the recommendations and the need to address the identified risks to ensure the sustainability of the future pharmacy workforce. The challenges expressed by pharmacists and other contributors, as outlined in the report, are invariably interlinked, and require strategic and policy leadership at a national level.
The recommendations are outlined below and are now in the process of being implemented with a multi-stakeholder workforce working group meeting regularly to track progress across all six areas.
Additionally, pharmacists have been put on the Critical Skills Occupation List to speed up the process of recruiting pharmacists.
Italy: New pharmacy services driving the need for more pharmacists
Italy is currently experiencing a shortage of pharmacists, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. It is noteworthy to mention that in Italy there are only pharmacists, and no technicians.
Comparing to pre-pandemic times, in which unemployment of pharmacists was registered, now the situation is the opposite, with the country registering a general lack of pharmacists. The increase in the demand of pharmacists is tied with an increase in hiring pharmacists to perform pharmacy services, and also because more new pharmacies opened.
Despite there are currently more students graduating from pharmacy studies (about 3.000 pharmacists graduate every year)., than pharmacists needed, pharmacies are experiencing shortages of staff shortage of the profession being experienced.
The Netherlands: Engagement with stakeholders and deriving evidence from practice
The Royal Dutch Pharmacists Association (KNMP) follows the developments of the collective agreement between pharmacists and pharmacies, a very important mechanism to keep the profession attractive. KNMP actively engages with the government and political power to signal emerging problems in the workforce. Furthermore, they contribute to maintaining an accurate picture of the pharmacy workforce situation in the Netherlands, which can be seen in public databases.
Portugal: Retaining, attracting, and developing professionals in community pharmacy
The average number of pharmacists per pharmacy in Portugal has doubled in the last twenty years. Today, pharmacy teams have an average of 4.1 pharmacists. Despite this high number, which supports the various pharmaceutical services that have recently been implemented (e.g. vaccination, renewal of chronic prescriptions, dispensing of hospital medicines, etc.), there are still difficulties in recruiting new professionals. This is related to a generalised shortage of professionals, which is also felt in other health professions
Retaining, attracting, and developing professionals in community pharmacy is a priority to enable young professionals and current team members to see community pharmacy as a place to work where they feel valued and fulfilled. The initiatives designed to address workforce shortages are underpinned by the pharmacy role’s added value from a scientific and employment standpoint, highlighting the investment in life-long learning and the possibility for development and innovation in technical-scientific fields. In general, there have been improvements in minimum wage conditions, in rewarding performance, and in training team managers to adopt the best people management practices, providing manuals and support tools for these areas.
The Young Pharmacists Council, an advisory body of the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Society, conducted a study in 2023 on the dynamics and challenges of the pharmaceutical profession in Portugal. This study ends with a set of recommendations that aims at promoting the retention and attractiveness of pharmacists in the country. Additionally, since 2012, the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Society has given the possibility for 4th and 5th year students of the Master’s Degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences to register for free at the society, to involve them early with the profession.
Community pharmacy in Portugal is facing important transformations with pharmacists taking a more active role. Improving the experience of the curricular internship in community pharmacy, in collaboration with universities, was one of the needs identified. This is a critical moment for young professionals when deciding on their professional careers. Likewise, the development of new clinical services, as well as the reinforcement of these interventions at the pharmacy level, has made it possible to consolidate a vision of a healthcare space in which the scientific skills of these professionals are fully scoped. The development of new pharmaceutical services makes the profession more appealing from a clinical point of view. Complementarily, we have fostered professional differentiation by developing specialized competencies, such as oncology competency for pharmacists.
One of the main issues in retaining and developing talent is the lack of competitive and attractive career models. The National Association of Pharmacies (ANF) also signed a new progression model contract with the Unions, which provides for an overall improvement in working conditions and encourages performance in pharmaceutical services, e.g., common ailments and dose-dispensing services, since career growth is directly linked to those activities. This model also values life-long learning through allowing pharmacists who invest in training to shorten the time needed to advance in professional levels.
The Portuguese Pharmaceutical Society is developing a new image for the professional identification card that creates a clearer distinction between the pharmacist and other members of the pharmacy team. This professional identification card mentions specific pharmacist skills, such as competence in administering injectables and vaccination, as a way of valuing pharmacists. Both ANF and the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Society have launched campaigns, essentially targeted to future and current students, to address this issue and better understand pharmacy curricula and career expectations in community pharmacy. Particularly, the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Society has launched an unprecedented campaign in partnership with all higher education institutions to promote the Master’s in Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Spain: Exploring ways to make the profession more visible
Spain does not register at this point a shortage of pharmacists – and there are up until now some positive results worth mentioning. The number of students applying for a pharmacy degree has increased since 2020 and continues to increase. Overall, pharmacy studies are quite successful, and they register a 92.9% of employment rate.
Currently there are 1,300 foreign pharmacists established in Spain, that have had their diploma recognized. However, it has been noted that younger generations are not so interested in working in community pharmacy, due to mainly the working conditions, which encompasses extended period of working hours and mandatory shifts, and probably the lack of career promotion opportunities within this field.
This has led to dedicating a session of our 2024 Congress to how to make more attractive working in community pharmacy. The aim of this session was to find out as much as possible about the current situation and the aspects that influence in generating demotivation or lack of attractiveness for pharmacists to work in community pharmacies. Indeed, in recent times there has been a certain loss of interest in this activity as a professional career path among new graduates and there may even be a certain demotivation of pharmacists who do not see clear opportunities for professional development that could be stimulating.
On 25 September 2023, on the occasion of World Pharmacists’ Day, the General Pharmaceutical Council of Spain sponsored the publication of a short story dedicated to our profession (here you can find a copy of the story in English). This story, entitled “A secret mission”, written by the renowned writer and journalist Sergio del Molino, tells the story of Nico, a city boy spending the summer vacation on a rural area. One day Nico is asked to run an errand for his grandmother at Carmen pharmacy’s.
Thanks to the collaboration of the Ministry of Education, which makes the text available to teachers so that it can be used as a teaching resource, this story is allowing us to reach primary school students – between 10 and 12 years old -. In addition, teachers are provided with a guide that helps them to discover other aspects of pharmacy or to carry out a small laboratory experiment at the end of the reading.
Therefore, the story, in addition to promoting the pharmacy profession and its values, creates interest among young people, and helps fostering new vocations that will become fellow pharmacists in the future.
Switzerland: Actions to develop the role of pharmacists in primary care
Switzerland is a federal country (with 26 highly autonomous cantons) and a liberal society. It has around 1,850 pharmacies employing almost 23,000 people, including pharmacists (medical profession, tertiary level training, master’s degree in pharmacy and federal diploma, federal postgraduate specialist qualification in community pharmacy mandatory to lead the pharmacy) and pharmacy assistants (3-year vocational training leading to a federal certificate of competence CFC).
Each public pharmacy employs an average of 12 people, including around 3 pharmacists, many of whom work part-time.
The profession of pharmacist is experiencing a major shortage of staff in Switzerland, which on average is greater than that of all healthcare specialists, in second position after that of doctors and before that of carers. As a result :
The Swiss Society of Pharmacists (pharmaSuisse) and the cantonal pharmacy societies are working closely together to take action at various levels to stem the shortage of staff:
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