The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 276 No 7398 p493
29 April 2006

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Steep increase in NHS pharmacy staff over past decade

Numbers of directly employed qualified staff in pharmacy posts in the NHS in England have risen by 65 per cent in the past 10 years, according to the latest workforce survey published by the Department of Health this week.

Full-time equivalent numbers of qualified staff (pharmacists, scientific officers and pharmacy technicians) increased from 7,229 in September 1995 to 11,900 in September 2005. About half of the 2005 FTE number (5,119) relates to pharmacists. There were nine consultant pharmacists in September 2005, holding the equivalent of six full-time posts.

There has been even more dramatic growth in pharmacy support staff, from 925 in 1995 to 2,918 last year — a 216 per cent increase.

The growth in qualified pharmacy staff over the past 10 years outstrips the increase in directly employed doctors and dentists (57 per cent), the increase in nurses (25 per cent) and the total increase for all NHS staff (32 per cent). The figures are for the Hospital and Community Health Service in England, which includes all NHS trusts and strategic health authorities.