Pharmacy Schools warn of staffing shortages amid 'uncontrolled increase’ in MPharm programmes

While the Pharmacy Schools Council welcomes the expansion of MPharm programmes, it cautions that this growth puts substantial pressure on an “already strained and constrained” Higher Education sector

The Pharmacy Schools Council (PhSC) has expressed concerns over the "uncontrolled increase" in the number of pharmacy schools across the UK, noting a lack of "commensurate investment" from the NHS in undergraduate training in any of the Home Nations.

In a position statement released on 8 August 2024, the Council acknowledged and appreciated the work being done by the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England’s office on enhancing clinical academic careers, but pointed out that it does not address the existing salary disparities between higher education institutions (HEIs) and the external workplace.

All members of the PhSC welcomed growth in the pharmacy profession. However, the Council emphasises that this growth should be managed not only in the workplace but also within the education sector.

The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan for England, published in April 2023, projected nearly a 30 per cent growth in the number of pharmacists in training in England by 2028, based on the 2022 baseline of approximately 3,400 students, and an increase of nearly 50 per cent by 2031.

The PhSC noted that while this increase of over 1,500 pharmacy students in England alone is a welcome development, it also places great pressure on an “already strained and constrained” Higher Education (HE) sector.

According to the Council, there are currently 29 fully accredited pharmacy schools in the UK, with one more school, Swansea, nearing full accreditation.

“Absorbing over 1500 new students into these 30 schools is problematic due to resource constraints both in terms of the physical environment and student/staff ratios (SSRs).

“The SSR is one of the many indicators the General Pharmaceutical Council uses to measure the quality of delivery of MPharm programmes during the accreditation and reaccreditation process,” the PhSC stated.

Furthermore, the PhSC indicated that at least seven more universities in the UK are in the early stages of accreditation for new MPharm programmes.

The University of Leicester and the University of Bath, in partnership with the University of Plymouth, are set to welcome their first cohorts of MPharm students in September 2024.

“Whilst these new schools will enhance the number of undergraduate places available to study pharmacy in the UK, current Heads of School have expressed concerns around the current difficulties in recruiting suitably qualified staff in all the fields required to run an MPharm programme.

“It is not uncommon for advertised posts to attract only one or two suitably qualified candidates and headhunting of existing members of the pharmacy academic workforce by new and established SoPs is becoming an increasingly common occurrence,” the PhSC said.

The council added that this challenge is particularly acutely felt when there is a need to recruit practising pharmacists with the correct clinical expertise to deliver the increased core clinical components of the MPharm.

It pointed out that because of financial pressures within the HE sector, Heads of School are compelled to either manage with a smaller staff base or recruit at lower grades.

Financial pressures within the sector are primarily due to the fact that student tuition fees have remained unchanged since 2012, the Council noted.

At the April 2024 PhSC meeting, Heads of School highlighted the need to make a career in academic pharmacy more attractive to pharmacists to expand the academic pharmacy workforce. They also stressed the importance of exploring alternative pathways for career progression.

In addition, the PhSC pointed out that universities are competing with the NHS for pharmacists, and this particularly causes issues in filling teacher-practitioner posts.

They suggested that using secondments to recruit senior pharmacists to academic posts could be an option worth exploring.

The PhSC is open to discussions with Chief Pharmaceutical Officers.