Part-time working and job-sharing on the increase among pharmacists in the NHS
Part-time working and job-sharing among pharmacists employed by the NHS in hospitals and community health services is slowly rising.
The latest census of NHS staff in England shows that there were 5,560
directly employed pharmacists working in the equivalent of 4,813 full-time
posts in September 2003, compared with 3,732 pharmacists in the equivalent
of 3,384 full-time posts in September 1996. This means that there has
been a 5 per cent increase in part-time working over the seven years,
with a 42 per cent increase in whole time equivalent posts (WTEs). Over
the same period, the proportion of women pharmacists has risen from 71.1
per cent to 74.7 per cent.
The number of technicians rose by 36 per cent from 3,711 WTEs in 1996
to 5,052 in 2003. The number of pharmacy posts classified as scientific
officers has rocketed by 97 per cent from 388 to 764 over the same time
scale. Overall, the 2003 census shows that the NHS hospital and community
health services employ 1.1m people, 63 per cent of whom have some form
of professional clinical qualification.
A census of the profession conducted by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society
at the end of 2002 found that there were 4,857 hospital pharmacists in
England. This census, too, found that part-time working was growing rapidly
(PJ, 12 July 2003, p58) with a slight reduction in full-time
working.
Sue Ambler, head of R&D at the Society, said: “The NHS census
confirms what has been revealed by the Society’s own work. There
is a move towards improving work-life balance which needs to be taken
account in workforce planning.” |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal