In 2022, the Emerging Risks to Pharmacy Workforce Project evaluated potential challenges to sustaining a professional pharmacy workforce in both community and hospital settings in Ireland. The key findings were compiled in the Workforce Intelligence Report, a publication which provides crucial, baseline data specific to the pharmacist workforce in Ireland.
The report highlighted emerging risks to the pharmacy workforce and presented strategic actions to mitigate these risks. It provides six clear recommendations for a sustainable future pharmacist workforce:
Critically, to ensure these recommendations were fulfilled, the report sought ongoing commitment from stakeholders across the system and the establishment of a working group that would be tasked with examining and responding to strategic workforce planning for pharmacy.
The Pharmacy Workforce Working Group was formed in April 2024. Jointly overseen by the PSI and the Department of Health, the group includes members with interest and expertise in the pharmacy sector, including representatives from the Schools of Pharmacy/APPEL, the HSE, the Irish Institute of Pharmacy (IIOP), the Irish Medicines Verification Organisation (IMVO), the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU), the Hospital Pharmacists Association Ireland (HPAI), Pharmacists in Industry Education & Regulatory (PIER), and practising community pharmacists. Amongst the members, responsibilities are allocated against recommendations and actions.
The group has to date met on a quarterly basis to discuss progress on the recommended actions arising from the report. They also review changes and updates in pharmacy practice and policy that influence the demand for and availability of pharmacists in the health service, including identifying ongoing challenges to the delivery of specific recommended actions.
“The need to develop a national strategy and implementation plan that clearly articulates a vision and role for pharmacy within the future integrated health system was a key focus of the group.”
At the recent launch of the PSI Corporate Strategy 2025-2028, Registrar and Chief Officer, Joanne Kissane, took the opportunity to provide attendees with an update on the group’s progress against the six recommended actions, highlighting the Pharmacy Workforce Working Group 2024 Summary Report, which discusses the outputs from the working group’s inaugural year.
Progress has been made around data collection and analysis. Workforce planning and modelling necessitate the acquisition of robust, accurate, and timely data. To help build a longitudinal view of workforce changes and patterns, the PSI has now conducted three workforce surveys with pharmacists (and 5th-year pharmacy students), exploring a number of themes, including role identification and details, locum work, work conditions, governance roles, career progression, and role expansion. In late 2024, the PSI issued a strictly quantitative survey to registrants with the objective of enhancing the data held on the PSI registers to inform early workforce modelling efforts. A report containing the findings of that exercise makes for interesting reading and is available on the PSI website. The PSI plans to continue to conduct annual surveys with a mixture of sentiment-based workforce questions and a review of data held on the register as the role of pharmacy continues to evolve.
The need to develop a national strategy and implementation plan that clearly articulates a vision and role for pharmacy within the future integrated health system was a key focus of the group. The final report of the Department of Health’s Expert Taskforce to Support the Expansion of the Role of Pharmacy, which some members of the group also sit on, outlined a clear roadmap for pharmacist prescribing, with an initial focus on the Common Conditions Service and also called for the appointment of a Chief Pharmaceutical Officer. The Department is prioritising the legislative and other enablers that are needed to facilitate community pharmacies implementing a Common Conditions Service. The commitment to the appointment of a Chief Pharmacist was reiterated in the current Programme for Government.
Administrative burden was highlighted as a significant concern for pharmacists. In response, the IPU, Department of Health, and the HSE have established a separate working group to address this issue. This group is concentrating on the identification and implementation of short- to medium-term solutions aimed at reducing the administrative burden within community pharmacies. The PSI also engaged with stakeholders and the DoH to ensure legislative amendments were introduced to reduce the administration burden associated with the supply of vaccines and emergency medicines. This included the removal of the requirement to notify GPs and allowing for the maintenance of electronic vaccination records.
Another recommended action, for which the PSI took responsibility, was to address the lack of clarity of expectations of those in governance roles within pharmacies by publishing Guidance on Pharmacy Governance Roles, setting out a principles-based outline of the governance responsibilities of all those involved in the operation of a pharmacy to support compliance and provide the clarity that was sought. This guidance, along with internal focus, has led to significant tangible outcomes in addressing vacancies arising in these important roles.
Working conditions emerged as a significant area for improvement for pharmacists, with a recommendation to establish a dedicated forum for pharmacist employers and employees to examine this issue. The forum was established and had its first meeting in December last year. It is independently chaired by Mary Rose Burke, a pharmacist and former PSI Council member, and the forum is tasked with making recommendations that will be presented to the IPU Executive Committee for consideration. In addition, the PSI is advancing a delineated model of pharmacy to support pharmacists in taking adequate rest breaks, thereby maintaining patient safety, reducing medication errors, preventing pharmacist burnout, and protecting pharmacist well-being.
The Pharmacy Workforce Working Group held its most recent meeting in March 2025 and remains committed to delivering on the workforce recommendations to ensure that the pharmacy workforce in Ireland is supported and resourced to meet current and future service demands. Throughout its second year, the group will continue to provide input into nationally-led strategic workforce planning initiatives, and examine how data can be further leveraged to monitor pharmacy workforce capacity, together with the delivery of another workforce survey in 2025. The group is committed to prioritising appropriate membership and representation in the working group so that it is most effective.
The PSI and Department of Health officials appreciate the coordinated engagement of the group and the dedication of the working group members, and others, who are striving for change that will create a more sustainable future for the pharmacy workforce.
Related information can be found on the PSI website, including survey data and reports. psi.ie > Information and Resources.
