Pharmacists and their teams in England can now access greater support for their mental health, following additional measures made by NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I).
New local mental health and wellbeing hubs have been established across the country for healthcare staff including pharmacy teams to use, offering a range of services such as free and confidential clinical assessments.
These services are available to all pharmacists, technicians and support staff to use whenever they need to.
Our workforce wellbeing campaign has been a key focus of our stakeholder work and we’ve been working with the government and colleagues from across the NHS in England to ensure that pharmacy has access to mental health and wellbeing services.
We’re making good progress but with the continued pressures on our profession, we’ll keep working to ensure positive changes are made and pharmacy staff get the help and support they need.
Claire Anderson, Chair of the English Pharmacy Board, said:
“Pharmacists have continued to serve patients throughout COVID-19, helping the NHS cope with the unprecedented pressures of the past year. We warmly welcome the enhancement of NHS support for pharmacists wellbeing during the pandemic and the extension through new wellbeing hubs for the future.
“It’s crucial that the next steps of the NHS People Plan ensures a parity of wellbeing support for all health professions going forward. This must be backed by greater investment in education and training to meet the growing demand for pharmacists.”
Find out more about our work via our wellbeing hub page.
For more information, visit the NHS Practitioner Health website here and NHS England » Staff mental health and wellbeing hubs
If you're struggling to manage your wellbeing, Pharmacist Support - the profession’s charity – has free and confidential services that may help.
For information, a stress helpline, specialist advice, wellbeing workshops and online resources visit their website at pharmacistsupport.org or call 0808 168 2233 or email [email protected].