New Findings On Workplace Pressure Unveiled, UK

Main Category: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 07 Sep 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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Two new reports which look at solutions to the work pressures facing pharmacists are being launched by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the Pharmacy Practice Research Trust at the Society's annual British Pharmaceutical Conference (BPC) in Manchester tomorrow.

Both pieces of work are in support of a wider Society campaign on workplace pressure and will be available in booklet form from the professional leadership body stand at the four day conference.

This campaign was first launched by RPSGB President Steve Churton in January this year and more recently has included the Society's Council calling for adequate rest breaks for pharmacists. The two reports bring together previous work on the workplace pressure campaign; research on pharmacy workload and its impact; stakeholder engagement within pharmacy; and collaboration with the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) and the Pharmacists' Defence Association on issues arising from workload.

The first report, Professional Workload, was research commissioned by the Society to see how other healthcare organisations tackle workforce pressures. This was carried out by gathering information from UK regulatory bodies and professional organizations for the health professions on their projects related to professional workload. One of its findings is that a number of validated tools exist that could be used by the human resources departments of large pharmacy employers, chief pharmacists, managers or superintendents to benchmark pharmacy workloads against. There are also tools that could be adapted for use by individual pharmacists to assess their working conditions objectively.

Another publication launched tomorrow at BPC, also linked to the Workplace Pressure campaign, is the report of a joint RPSGB and Pharmacy Practice Research Trust (the Trust) symposium held earlier in the year1. The event brought together employers, policy makers, academics and leaders of the profession to look for a collective solution to the problems of pressures and workload in the pharmacy workplace.

Turning evidence into action includes summary reports from key speakers such as Dr Phil Tucker of Swansea University who highlighted the negative impact of long working hours.

Mr Marshall Davies, Chair of the Trust says: "The evidence presented at this two day event has contributed significantly to understanding the varied and numerous pressures and stresses being faced by the pharmacy workforce.

"Both the speakers and delegates played an invaluable role in identifying what future action is required, and provided impetus to the President's campaign which has already resulted in a number of positive initiatives that will benefit the profession and the patients they serve."

RPSGB President, Steve Churton says; "From the outset of this campaign we wanted to not only explore all the issues causing work pressures but to also support our profession to resolve the factors that lead to these inappropriate levels of work overload and stress.

"I am pleased today to be able to share the outputs and collective solutions resulting from our symposium along with what we have been able to learn from other health 1 Workload pressure and the pharmacy workforce: supporting professionals and protecting the public. Joint RSPGB and Pharmacy Practice Research Trust Symposium. London 2009. http://www.pprt.org.uk/Events/EventsHeld.aspx professions in the area of work pressure. I hope that our members will take the time to read these reports and will find them useful in their working lives."

Notes

Both reports will be available online from Saturday September 5. Turning evidence into action can be found at http://www.pprt.org.uk and Professional Workload can be found at: http://www.rpsgb.org

The Pharmacy Practice Research Trust

The Pharmacy Practice Research Trust was established by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of GB in July 1999 as an independent research charity with a broad objective to promote and develop the field of pharmacy practice research. Its trustees are drawn from senior health policy makers, leading academics, industry and retailers. The Trust has invested over £1.5m in research; 30% supporting capacity building in pharmacy practice research and 70% on commissioned research. Annual grants from the Pharmaceutical Trust for Education and Charitable Objectives and the Leverhulme Trades Charities Trust contribute to the funds of the Pharmacy Practice Research Trust. For further information and to access reports of Trust commissioned research go to: http://www.pprt.org.uk

The British Pharmaceutical Conference is the flagship annual conference of the RPSGB and is now in its 147th year. This year, it takes place in Manchester from Sunday 6 September - Wednesday 9 September inclusive. Around 1000 pharmacists from the UK and internationally will convene to debate practice issues and scientific developments affecting the profession during the four-day event. Research released at BPC is published in the Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology.

Source
Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain

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